Waiting

Congestion on the motorway at night

View from the bedroom

The place lights up at night. 

Hoi An

Arrived in Da Nang which is the port and had a 1 hour drive into Hoi An. On the way we saw huge developments of 5 star hotels being built all along the beach front. Up until teen toy the land was empty then the communist government decided to allow people to buy the land and build private hotels. If you are Chinese you can't buy the land but if you are married to a Vietnamese girl she can buy the land for you to build a hotel. The beach is white sand and goes for miles. There is noun employment in Da Nang or Hoi An. There are no homeless people as the government has built apartments for the poorer people to live in. No beggars anywhere. We went to a marble factory and the sculptures were very good. Behind the factory us the marble mountain where they get al the marble from. We had 4 hours to ourselves in Hoi An. The shopping was very good and very cheap. I am impressed with the cleanliness of Virtnam and the progress it is making. 

Last day

Today we walked to Times Square who his a great place for shopping. Once again when we were lost and looking at the map a kid woman gave us directions and actually accompanied us part of the way. The locals are so helpful. This afternoon we went to the Stanley market. The drive around the bay's to get there is quite spectacular. The homes in this area are very upmarket. The market was fun to wander around but not a lot grabbed me to buy. We got a double decker bus back ads at in the front seat upstairs. We has great views ofeerythigvall the way home and all got $NZ1 each due to our age. They give everyone the concessions for age and not just the locals. The trip was about 30km so very cheap. We just wandered the streets tonight. It is quite safe and great to watch people. The streets come alive after dark

My home

Tonight we walked through a tunnel to get from our hotel to the shops. It was amazing what we saw in the tunnel. Homeless people who don't sleep on the ground but have mattresses and they look quit comfortable. Some have used boxes to make a private room. Theurvwashingbhangs on a line above their beds. Not sure where they do the washing it their ablutions. Probably better we don't kniw

Hong Kong

We arrived in Hong Kong today and are on the 21st floor overlooking the Hong Kong race course. There are races on tonight so we have had a birds eye view of the races. Hong Kong is just a mass of high rise buildings as far as the eye can see. The public have been really helpful and obliging whenever we look lost. We used the trams today which are soooo  cheap. Because we are over 65 we only pay the equivalent of $1NZ. It is a great way to travel as you get a good view from the upstairs and they don't travel too fast. 

Nga Trang

This is a very beautiful seaside city. Long white sandy beaches with straight lines 

Of white  beach umbrellas & deck chairs. The place was full of Europeans having a holiday. There are lovely high rise buildings in the city with many cafes and restaurants. The place is very clean!! Motor bikes are still the preferred mode of transport but it is organised chaos. Went to an embroidery factory where we saw girls doing the most exquisite work. Their finished articles were unbelievable but I didn't like their scenes. Had a trip on a rickshaw along the beach front. One person to a rickshaw. It is amazing to see literally hundreds of rickshaws traveling in mass along the roads. It made us feel better when our drivers did not have to get off to push us up an incline- think they might have turned the motor on!! Went To the white Buddha up a 'mountain' - about as high as Smith St. The weather is still hot but a bit windy which causes a bit of a roll on the boat. Everything sooo cheap!! Did a bit of shopping which was great fun as I love bartering. This photo is of an embroidered flower. 

At sea

Today we are cruising between Nga Trang & Da Nang (Hoi An). It is very windy and the boat is rocking & rolling. The swimming pool is sloshing over from one side to the other. Nets have been put across the pools to ensure no one falls in.  I am sure there are a few people on board who are not feeling so good but we are fine. 

Buying shoes market Cambodia

Overloaded?

Mum, Dad & 4 children Cambodia. Cambidia is certainly a third world country. It is not dirty but filthy. There are bikes and rubbish  all song the roads. This road was an exception. People live in hovels. One room with a cooker. They all seem to be prolific breeders. There are no road rules and you do not require a license to drive. Hence chaos. 

Fishing village Cambodia

The boats go out at night to fish ad return early morning. Once the fish arrive on the wharf the women do all the work sorting and getting the fish ready for the market. The fish are about 4-6 inches long.

Ice skating in the mall

Fantastic ice skating rink in the mall. It was a Sunday and lots of people were having fun

Central Plaza Mall

Anything that money can buy you can get here

Loos fit for a queen

These Loos in Bangkok were so beautiful I was frightened to use them. They were in the largest and most expensive mall I have ever seen but the Loos were free. 

Koh Samui Safari park

From the port we got into large 4wheel drive vehicles 8 people to a vehicle. Drove for about 20 minutes at break neck speed to the Safari park. 2 people per elephant for abridge around the park. Our elephant was 25 years old and eats 300kg if food per day and drinks 100 liters of water. Malcolm hated the whole ride and wanted to get off which was not ossicle. I thought the whole trip was good fun. Had a Thai lunch at the park of many lovely courses. Saw a performing elephant show which was excellent alto don't think the Animal Rights group would approve. All in all a great day apart from the heat.

Sunrise over Koh Samui

It is 6.30 am and what a beautiful sunrise. We are anchored off the island and use tenders to go ashore. From the ship Koh Samui appears to be very hilly

Buddha

This Buddha was about 6-7 feet high. If you want food you rub his tummy, rub his cheeks for happiness, rub his chest for good health and rub his head for intelligence. His head was too high for most people to reach but they were queuing up to have a rub if him!!!

Can't go any further!

During our tour yesterday it was very hot. We went to a huge market which was great. I loved it but Makcolm got sore legs and very tired as you can see by the photo. This is him waiting for the bus to come back.

Merlion on the riverbank

Singapore by trishaw

Yesterday afternoon we went on an excursion round parts of Singapore. We started off I a coach the chafed to a trishaw and finished off in a river boat. It was great in te trishaw. You see so much more. The trishaws have their own lanes and they have the right of way. I felt very safe. From the riverboat we could see all the points of interest. Singapore used to get its water from Malaysia but this was stopped . Singapore then dredged part of the river and pretend the sea water going up the river thus making a huge dam. This provides the whole of Singapore with fresh water after it has been treated.

Singapore

Arrived this morning. What a contrast to where we've been. Will spend this morning in the Vivo city mall which is opposite the cruise terminal. 250 shops selling every brand imaginable. So clean. Lovely fountains and sculptures everywhere. 

King Neptune

Today we are at sea before Singapore tomorrow. Crossed the equator and had a very elaborate ceremony for all staff who had not crossed the equator previously. The unfortunates first had to kiss a very large fish, they were then marched to a table where they were covered in green and pink slid like substance then before the senior staff, captain and 4 others to decide their fate. Most ended up on the pool either at this stage or at the end of the ceremony. One of the officers was thrown into the pool at the end because it was his birthday. There will be a lot of uniforms to get washed tonight. 

The victims at the end of ceremony

Picture of captain who looks just like my brother

Bali

These children were on te wharf in Bali performing for the passengers as they got off. They were really looking for $ but they did look lovely in their native cistumrs

Solar eclipse

All the eclipse chasers were praying for a fine sky without cloud. They were ecstatic when this was the case. We had been given special glasses to look at the sun. At 7.23am the partial eclipse began. Quite remarkable watching the moon slowly move across the sun. Total eclipse began at 8.34 am and finished at 8.37am. During the total the most amazing corona was around the sun and Venus could be seen in the sky. It was like the middle of the night.

Komodo Island

Fortunately we were in an early group to the island. It was 32 degrees at 9am. We had a park ranger at the front and back of the group as we walked through the forest. We were lucky. We saw about 7 dragons. The rangers have long pronged sticks to fend the dragons off if they start to get too close. We were about 3-4 meters from the dragons. An awesome experience

Fishing village Makassar

Floral arrangements on ship

The ship had a full time florist who has incredibly beautiful arrangements throughout the ship. 

Makassar

Makassar today. This city was formerly known as Ujung Pandang. It is the provincial capital of South Sulawasi and is the largest city on the island of Sulaeasi. Indonesia has 17000+ islands with 6000 of them inhabited. The port is a busy one with ships coming and going continuously. The Dutch arrived in the early 17th century and monopolized the spice trade. The Dutch influence is seen in the architecture around the port. Resistance to the Dutch continued til the 1930's.

Went on bus tour. More than 32 degrees. The only cool place was in the bus. Took us to the most disgusting fruit & vege market. Nearly expired. Then drove us to look at a beach. Sounds sensible on a hot day but only to look at from the bus. Then a museum. At least it was cool & I found myself  seat  while the others walked around.

Pedicabs

There were hundreds of these waiting to take us for a rude. It was a little scary but gun

Little urchins

These children look innocent enough but they were really waiting to pounce on your purse if possible

The corridor

Gives you some idea of the size of the ship

Probolinggo,

Today the ship had to anchor off shore and use tender boats to get us to land m. The highlight of this region is the massive crater of Mount Bromo which stretches 1200 feet from east to west and 2000 feet from north to south. We are having a tour around the city and surrounding area. Provolinggo would be the dirtiest city I have seen. It makes India look clean. We saw no sign of people having anything. Beggars everywhere. The highlight for me was a ride through the town in a pedicab. 32 degrees and the odd rise which they had to pedal up. They would only take 1 person per cab. Just as well as some of the USA passengers are huge. All other traffic respects the cabs & they have the right of way. A trip through a fruit & vege market was a trip I don't to repeat. Plucked chickens for sale exposed to the heat. Ugh!! Visited a batik factory which looked reasonably clean til you visited to toilets. For once I was pleased to get back on the ship. It is awful to see so many little children who are filthy begging for money.  Great entertainment on board last night. The best ventriloquist I have ever been to and a comedian as well. Great night.

A day at sea

After a busy few days we have a test with a day at sea. Itbisca day to do the washing and every other person on the ship has the same idea. Finally got a mmwashing then a dryer and we are now ok for the next few days. Washing is one of the cheapest things on the ship. NZ$4 to wash and NZ$2 to dry. A bottle of wine is $56 NZ. The weather has been great up til today but although it is still hot it is raining on & off.  Semarang where we were yesterday is an interesting place. The city is sinking 1 meter every year which of coursework create problems as during the rainy season it floods badly. Anyone with money has moved up into the hills and the people left down low are the poor. We went up into the mountains yesterday. It was interesting because at 1500 feet there is a huge plateau covered in little villages. Up there they grow rice, rice and more rice. There is a train museum in one if the villages and we went from one village to another on a train that was 105 years old. 

There is still a large Japanese influence here with 80% of the population in Srmarang Japanese. We were told that the government is starting to deal with corruption and the young people are hopeful that things will be better for the next generation.

Sorry there is no photo today. When I write a blog when there is no internet I lose the photo when I finally am able to publish it. My tech guru may be able to offer a remedy!!

Thanks to those of you who have put comments on the blog. If you can't do it ask Tracey. If she can do it anyone can. Christina & Tracey are the only people whose comments have got to me. 

Time for another superb lunch so sign off. Hope everyone is well as we are.

Internet

Whenever we get to a port everyone gets out their electronic devices & types furiously in order to send as many emails as possible. This was the scene in Jakarta.

Fine dining

This was a gala night. King prawn & orange entree, rack of lamb main& strawberries soaked in wine. All beautifully presented

Wires

In Jakartathe electricity wires Are all over the place & look very unsafe