BANGKOK, THAILAND

We arrived in Bangkok in the morning and disembarked to special coaches that took us to the Shangri La Hotel where the World Cruisers were treated to an overnight at this 5-star facility complete with dinner and some local entertainment.  Our accommodations were spectacular with a wonderful view overlooking the river. We were invited to an afternoon tea and then cocktails. We skipped the tea and just relaxed and enjoyed our surroundings but joined the Captain and our fellow guests for drinks and then a delicious traditional Thai dinner. Our numbers have dwindled over the past weeks and we are now only about 60 World Cruisers.   

 

The evening was delightful!  And you can see from the photos that the beautiful Thai women who entertained us were lovely as well. I kept thinking about that old black and white movie "Road to Bali" with Bob Hope and Bing Crosby that I saw when I was a kid.  I sure never thought back then that I would ever be in this part of the world!

 

The next day, we had arranged to meet Peter and Pru and Molise and Niels for a Dim Sum lunch at the hotel.  P & P got off the ship that morning and were staying at the same hotel until 9:00 p.m. that evening when they would head to the airport for their flight back to London.  Lunch was delicious and it was nice to have a final few hours with them. 

 

Sadly, we had to say goodbye and then board our coach to head back to the ship.  We stayed in port one more night and were delighted to welcome back our old friend James from Singapore.  He will be aboard again until Dubai.

 

I am still quite far behind in these reports but hope to catch up soon.  Yesterday we were in Kuala Lumpur and as I write this (at 8:00 a.m. Sunday) we are docking in Penang.  In the meantime, be well and keep in touch.

 

D & K

 

VIETNAMESE NIGHT AND OUR LAST DINNER WITH PETER AND PRU

The dress code called for wearing something Vietnamese so Ken and Peter donned the helmets purchased in Hanoi plus flashing sunglasses and scarves.  We were dining casually at Hot Rocks but we convinced the two of them to silently walk through the Restaurant and La Terrazza where they received much applause both from the passengers and staff.  Others were wearing very elegant silk dresses etc. 

 

The flashing T-shirt Ken wore was also very popular and our friend Wendell, the Indian dress designer, is now the happy new owner.  We met Wendell and Jerome on the Spirit two years ago and they are great fun.  They have a country house in Goa and we'll be going there for lunch on the day we're docked in that part of India.

 

All too soon Peter and Pru's seven weeks aboard have ended.  We had a nice dinner with them on their last night.  We did manage to have lunch with them in Bangkok where the World Cruisers were treated to an overnight at the Shangri La Hotel, complete with an amazing Thai dinner and entertainment.  I'll send some of those photos with the next note.

 

After Bangkok, we sailed to Ko Samui another beautiful island in Thailand.  We were just there for the day and since we are kind of "Templed-Out" we just took the tender to town with Niels and Molise and walked around.  We also stopped for a cold local beer which is something we like to do wherever we are. 

 

Must run now and go to dinner.  The Ship's Doctor is joining us along with his two Nurses.  He is a big mprovement (personality-wise) over the first one who was a Russian with absolutely no sense of humour!  He was in the bar one night and we invited to join him.  His gave us a curt "nyet "!  Oh well ...   This will be the second time we've dined with the new doc who obviously enjoys our company a bit more!

 

We are trying to organize a party for the crew sponsored by us and Molise and Niels. We want to do it before Sujith leaves in Dubai but it seems we will be on "pirate watch" on the date we've requested.  Stay tuned for an update and photos. 

 

Ciao for now

D & K

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HANOI

It was a very long journey (four hours each way) but we decided to make the trip to Hanoi.  We set off at 7:30 a.m. from Ha Long Bay and although the distance is only 120 km., the driving conditions are poor and at times quite dangerous.  Fortunately, we were blessed with a good driver and a knowledgeable guide.  We had also pre-determined who our travelling companions would be in the six passenger van and the ship had packed a large cooler filled with champagne and beer for in- transit refreshments. Along with Peter and Pru and Tony and Patti, we enjoyed the scenery, if not the near-death experiences provided by vehicles, including busses, that were overtaking others on extremely narrow roads. 

 

We finally reached a two lane highway about an hour out of the city centre and then, all too soon, we were treated to the madness of traffic in a city where the means of transporation ranges from bicycles, motor bikes, tuk tuks, cars, and vans to local and luxury tourist busses. 

 

Hanoi is not nearly as modern and prosperous looking as Saigon in the south but it does have some charming architecture influenced of course by the French.  The large yellow building is the Presidential Palace but our guide was quick to inform us that Ho Chi Minh refused to live there.  Instead, he took up residence in the smaller building next to the pond and then finally the "people" built him a house on stilts on the palace grounds.  This came complete with a bomb shelter!  There are over 1000 villas in the beautiful French Quarter of the city and of course it is now only government officials who live in them. 

 

Russia played a huge role in Ho Chi Minh's battles with the French and later the Americans and if you look at the photo of his office, you will see portraits of Marx and Lennin.  And according to our guide, the car was a Russian version of a Rolls Royce! 

 

I had a problem with my camera and unfortunately lost the photo of the memorial erected where John McCain was captured when his plane was shot down. Our guide informed us that he was badly injured parachuting from the plane and they "saved his life".  His former accommodation, at the Hanoi Hilton, is not open for visitors! Just like China, there is a set pattern to what they say about their wonderful leaders.  In Ho Chi Minh's case, it is that he devoted his entire life to his country and never married because he considered all the Vietnamese people his children. They obviously spent a bundle on his mausoleum which is also on the palace grounds.   

 

After a delicious lunch in a charming restaurant, we spent about half an hour walking around the old and somewhat decaying part of the city where the ordinary Vietnamese people live.  The power lines look like spaghetti (another lost photo) and you have to wonder how reliable that must be. We also visited a very old and charming Temple built by one of the last Emperors.  Since 80% of the people are now communist and don't practice any religion, it is mostly a tourist destination. 

 

After an equally crazy ride back to Ha Long Bay, we reached the ship's tender about twenty minutes late. They had waited for us and as soon as we were on board, we sailed immediately.  The fog was settling in again and our Captain was understandably anxious to get away. 

 

We were exhausted and after a drink at the pool bar, we all decided a shower and dinner in our cabins was called for.  It was an interesting day and we felt it was worth the trip.

 

Hope everyone is well at home.  We are definitely back to hot and steamy weather in Thailand. This is merely an observation ... not a complaint!   Lots more to write about and I'll try and catch up soon.

 

D & K 

 

  

 

 

HA LONG BAY ..... NOT OUR SHIP THAT HAD THE ACCIDENT!

Just logged on and we've had so many e-mails about the accident that the Shadow had in Ha Long Bay that I thought I'd drop a quick note to say we are fine. 

 

As you can see from these pics (sent to us by a fellow passenger) we have had no problems at all in this port although the fog has been a challenge for our crew.   Sadly, it was our sister ship that had a freighter "kiss its bow"  but by all reports tonight she is fine and quite seaworthy!!  A little dent and some paint scratches they say!    Ken and Peter repeated the Chinese Junk tour here yesterday afternoon through these incredible islands while Pru and I headed for the local market on shore.  Of course, they didn't have much fun as is obvious from the photos!

 

We had to skip Haiphong because we lost eight hours due to a second medical emergency.  I wrote about the first one but later that same night, another passenger had to be picked up by a Chinese patrol boat and taken to a medical facility on the Chinese coast.  Our Captain then decided that we would not go to Haiphong because it is "tide-sensitive" so we headed directly for Ha Long Bay. 

 

We had an unscheduled overnight there and a great day today on a long journey to Hanoi where we enjoyed seeing the city. Quite different from Saigon.   Crazy trips driving to and from though!  We weighed anchor at 7:00 p.m. tonight and are now sailing south again but can't remember where we will dock tomorrow afternoon. There is a good reason why our tickets say "itinerary subject to change".  I will write again soon with some of the highlights but just want everyone to know we are fine. 

 

Goodnight and sweet dreams.  It's bedtime where we are.  Thanks to all who have written to find out if we're o.k.  We appreciate your concern. 

 

D & K

HONG KONG and SHANGHAI

I have decided I will never get caught up so I'll just cover the last two ports in this note.  Hong Kong was pretty much unchanged from our last visit.  The big difference was the weather. (You can see from the photo that the pool waiters were freezing as were we.)   We docked in a cold, damp and foggy Victoria Harbour as scheduled and as soon as we were cleared by Immigration, we took the ferry to Ken's tailor in Wan Chai for his first fitting on the new dinner jacket and suits.  We met Peter and Pru at the Four Seasons Hotel at noon but because it was such a lousy day, we decided to cancel our planned trip to Lama Island for a seafood lunch.  Instead, we returned to Kowloon and had Peking Duck in a restaurant that someone had recommended. 

 

On our second day in H.K. and with the weather still bad, we travelled to the Ladies Market, did a bit of bargaining and then headed back to Wan Chai to pick up Ken's stuff before returning to the ship for a 7:00 p.m. departure.  The cityscape from the ship is still as spectacular as ever, particularly at night, and we enjoyed a drink on our veranda as we sailed away. 

 

As we sailed north to Shanghai, the seas got rougher and the temperature kept dropping.  We were told to expect it would get worse as we got closer to our destination.  Happily, although it was cold, the sun was out and we were able to fully appreciate the thousands of towering skyscrapers that apparently have all been constructed during the last twenty years.  Frankly, it's hard to believe this is a communist country!  Shanghai is a newer version of Hong Kong and we were all impressed by the cleanliness and beauty of the place.  The picture of the 3rd tallest communications tower in the world (after Toronto and Moscow) was taken from our cabin so you have some idea of how centrally we were docked. 

 

On our first morning, we took a tour called "Shanghai - Old and New" and it was interesting to hear about the history of the place that is now home to 23 million people.  This is a far cry from the less than 10,000  who inhabited it when Chairman Mao began his People's Revolution.  Every tour guide repeats the same story about how wonderful he was and it's our guess that this is ingrained in them from childhood.  No mention of any human rights issues though!

 

Our Silversea Experience in this city was a visit to see the Chinese Acrobats.  The show was spectacular (my photos don't do it justice) and it seems likely that Cirque de Soleil must monitor these young people looking for talent for their productions.  China trains them from the young age of 5 or 6 and their careers are pretty much finished by the time they reach 25.  Everyone enjoyed the show.

 

We had two nights here and three full days so we got to see a lot and had some fun at the Bargaining Market which is five stories of small shops where you can get just about anything that can be reproduced.  We left with the impression that this is a country that the Western world is right to be worried about! 

 

As we made our way down 68 miles of the Huangpu River and out to the open seas, we again encountered rough weather and very thick fog.  Our fog horn has not stopped blasting for 24 hours and although it is 9:30 a.m. on Saturday morning here in the East China Sea, our ship is still shrouded in the stuff.  Yesterday, at about 5:00 p.m. Captain Corsaro announced that we would be deviating our course to meet a military vessel and transfer a crew member who needed hospitalization.  Apparently it was one of our electricians who had a heart attack .  The medical transfer took place just after 7 p.m. right underneath our veranda and I managed to get a couple of pictures of the small ship alongside. We have had several Code Alpha's over the past week and sadly lost one of our fellow passengers just before arriving in Hong Kong. 

 

We have two more days at sea before we reach Viet Nam again.  This time Hanoi, or at least the port of Haiphong nearest that city.  This will be a new one for us and it will be interesting to compare it to Saigon which continues to grow and prosper.  At least we will be back in warmer weather which everyone is looking forward to. 

 

Hope you are all well.  It seems that Toronto has been warmer than where we've been for the last few days so that's a good thing. 

 

Adios for now

 

D & K

 

 

 

DRESSMAKING CONTEST AND LOTS OF PARTIES

I have neglected the blog for a while because we've been so busy.  Since I last wrote there has been so much happening, both on the ship and in various ports.  It seems that every day at sea brings some kind of private event celebrating birthdays, anniversaries or "till we meet again" parties because someone is disembarking soon.  Two hundred passengers left the ship in Singapore and only about 100 newbies joined us.  Only one couple that we know (from Ireland) and the rest seem to be a quiet bunch despite the fact that 16 of them are Canadians.

 

If they are in the right order, the first photos are from the Dressmaking Contest which we decided to enter at the last minute.  Since we had no illusions that we might win based on any actual skills, we thought we would at least try to give everyone a laugh with our little bridal tableau.  The bridal gown is made from bed sheets tacked together with duct tape and safety pins and the veil is a window curtain which our butler was somewhat shocked to be asked to remove for us.  Note the groom's fancy shoes!  We borrowed them from one of the entertainers on board. 

 

We threw Ken's arab dishdash on Niels to make him look like a vicar and James (after a lot of persuasion) agreed to wear one of Molise's frocks and be the flower girl.  He had been lured into the group on the promise that he would be a page boy but soon got into the spirit of the revised plan.  The whole thing brought the house down with laughter and we won!  Fernando announced that our prize was a World Cruise on one of the Costa ships next year!!

 

I've included some photos from other events on board and a champagne party at Catherine's home in Singapore.  Her pool is spectacular and we all enjoyed ourselves before heading off to meet Leila and Herve, our old friends from Monaco. They had disembarked from a Seabourn ship a couple of days earlier and were flying home late that night.  It was great to see them again and we had a wonderful time catching up. 

 

We sailed out of Saigon harbour last evening and are now looking forward to a couple of days at sea before arriving in Hong Kong.  I have so many photos to download and sort through that I probably will never get caught up to describe some of the incredible things we've seen and done since the last post.  We'll have two days and one night in H.K. that will be filled with trips to the tailor and a planned ferry ride to Lama Island for a very fresh seafood lunch with Peter and Pru.  We did that the last time we were there and thoroughly enjoyed it. 

 

Just wanted you all to know that we are fine and still having a wonderful trip.  Hope you are all great too!

 

D & K