Afterwards

Readjusting our body clocks has been slower than I anticipated. We have been falling asleep watching the News Hour at 6:30 pm and waking up at 5 am. Happily the weather this week has been wonderful, so we have been able to work outside and leave windows open - such a welcome change from the cold and rain we left behind on April 3.

I realize that it is stating the obvious, but actually experiencing a country and its people is a world away from reading or watching something about it. Knowing that after a long hot day dragging through crowded destinations we would return to luxurious accommodations did make it easier to manage the crowds and often disturbing sights of squalid living conditions. Often the contrast between the lives of the majority of the people and the lucky few who had the best of everything was disturbing - though no more so than say in the rougher sections of Baltimore.

That said, the apparent devotion of the Thai people to their king and their religion, the determined struggle of the Cambodians to recover from Pol Pot, and the pride of the Vietnamese in their “liberal communism ” pointed toward openings for future developments that could improve the lives of many. Tourism is clearly an important element of that. I wish we could have spent more time in Hong Kong, as the litle time we did have left me puzzled and curious as to how it all worked.

So, all in all, this was a journey that combined comfort with learning and an unvarnished exposure to the economic and political realities of the countries we experienced. Plus we saw some amazing examples of temples, pagodas, palaces, and sky scrappers, as well as huge markets and traditional local industries like silk weaving and candy manufacturing by hand from coconuts and rice.

Not being a person who enjoys group tours all that much, my favorite tour was in Bangkok where we were able to hire a private tour guide (for just $100 for the whole day) and together craft an itinerary that gave us an in-depth experience of the city.

A few random photos to end with:

Ran out of money

Bridge in Ha Long with Cable Car Tower

O’Hare

Disembarking at this busy airport flung us into one of the longest and most frustrating experiences of the trip. I suspect that the Trump administration has diverted many of the Customs and Border Patrol agents to the southern border. It took us 1 1/2 hours to clear customs as there were no where near enough agents working to handle the crowds. And then there was the wait to clear the luggage. And then the long wait for the bus to terminal 3, and then the wait to go through security. And the flight was delayed 1 hour and 20 minutes!

So looking forward to getting home.

Hong Kong Tour Photos

Junk Circle Tour

Inside the stalled tram

Tram Driver Waiting for Instructions

Hong Kong Photos

China

One More in-flight Post

It may be the time difference, going back in time instead of ahead, or it may be that experience is really a better teacher than I have appreciated in traveling, or it may be better access to cognac, but this long flight (14 1/2 hours this direction with a tail wind), has so far been much easier to manage. We were just informed that dinner will be served in one hour and that we have only 8 1/2 hours to go...maybe a nap after dinner will help keep me from over-blogging.

 As difficult as some of the views of life outside our tour bus windows were, and as troubled as the economics and politics of the countries we visited are, we met many cheerful and grateful Thai, Cambodians, Vietnamese, and Hong Kongians. And we experienced some of the wonders of human creation, like the giant reclining Buddha in Bangkok, or life along the Meykong River in Thailand, or the Sanctuary of Truth in Thailand, or the dense High Rise Forest that is Hong Kong. Most of our tour guides were informative and able to share their personal stories (that had difficult (or horrible as in Cambodia) histories), with a sanguine view of their own and their country’s ability to improve living conditions for the majority of their fellow citizens. 

I did come away with a real appreciation for the threat that China poses to the political balance in Southeast Asia and the enormous challenges that the governments and citizens of all the countries we visited are facing, especially Cambodia. Based on conversations held and overheard on the ship and the excursions, I was impressed with level of interest and curiosity that many of our fellow travelers brought to the journey, as this was not a cruise to easy destinations. And these fellow travelers were not all American - I have no hard data, but I would guess that 2/3 were from the US. For some strange and welcome reason, there was very little mention of Donald Trump and the sorry state of affairs in our own country.

 Life an board the ship and the daily activities, great meals, excursions, lectures, and musical entertainment, were certainly a welcome distraction, so who could blame us for not wanting to wallow in the American political swamp. Of course we did have internet access, so we continued to read the New York Times and the Washington Post, but it all seemed somehow like a sorry sideshow to the great human drama taking place around the globe. I do however remain gravely concerned about how my country is going to shed Trumpism and recover from the damage that he is doing.

On the FlIght to Chicago

My iPad says that it is 4:26 PM on Sunday. The flight display says that we have 10 and 1/2 hours to go on this first leg of our flight home - on the way to Chicago. The logistics of our departure this morning were straight forward (though we had to have our luggage outside the door at 10 pm last night and wake up at 6 am), and our time waiting at the Hong Kong airport was manageable.

We are again in our Premium Economy cocoon having been served an odd lunch with a decent red wine. I now know that I can ring the flight attendant for more cognac! Our final day at sea was relaxing as we cruised by the eastern coast of China (at a safe distance - though I do have a few shots of some cities visible on the coastline.) The seas were smooth for the most part, and the cruise into Hong Kong around 6:00 am Saturday morning was eye popping. I have never seen so many tall buildings all stacked next to each other both up on the hillsides and down close to the water.

We docked at a well-appointed cruise ship terminal (our first - as the other docks were all cargo terminals). In fact after finding your way through the immigration and customs labyrinth, you ended up in a gigantic multi-level indoor mall. This mall was like having all of the high-end fashion, cosmetics, watch, jewelry, and shoe stores on New York’s 5th Ave in one huge glittering space. The white tile floors and brilliantly lit stores were mobbed with Asians most carrying bags with brand names like Rolex, Gucci, Fendi, Chanel, Coach, etc.

Alas our one day in Hong Kong did not go as planned. The entire city was shrouded in fog as we arrived and remained so on our bus tour up and around the narrow, steep, and winding streets - so narrow that when two tour busses approached each other on a curve one or both had to stop so that they could pass without touching. One of the highlights of the tour was to be the view from “the peak,” the highest point in the city. All we saw was dense clouds. The tour was in fact bizarrely structured. At lunch time we waited about 30 minutes on a very crowded dock to board another type of junk boat which took us on a circle tour of the harbor, mostly around shabby house boats of various shapes and large covered trawlers tied up to floating docks. Then instead of stopping at a restaurant for lunch, we were bussed up to “the peak” to spend 30 minutes in another indoor market, where we were advised that we were free to buy our own lunch at Burger King if we were really hungry (it was now about 1:30 pm). We did not, opting to split a ham and cheese croissant from Pacific Coffee.

 It had started to rain hard as we disembarked for the mall, and it continued on and off as we waited in line (mostly outside) for the tram that was to take us back down the hill to meet the bus (the second highlight of the tour). Once inside the tram terminal, having now waited another 30 minutes, the weather went wild, and a fierce thunderstorm rolled in with a downpour, lightening, thunder, and fierce winds. Those still waiting outside were drenched - in fact the wind blew so hard just before we boarded the tram that I feared that those on line would be blown into the terminal and panic would ensue. Anne and I were the last two to make it onto the tram - at the very back - we were standing in the small space between the empty driver station and the partition where the seats began, and this turned out to be a gift from the angel of sanity.

Because as we started our descent down the steep track, the storm raged and the tram stopped. In fact we sat there with high winds, heavy rain, and lightening for 20 minutes. We received no updates on our situation until a tram driver (an expressionless 30-something woman with long black hair and a uniform) made her way up from the front of the tram (there were two cars holding about 35 people each), and flipped switches and turned on the windshield wiper, clearly preparing to take us back up to the starting point. After 10 minutes, we inched forward and stopped again. She was getting calls on a phone at the control station, and we could overhear animated conversations in one of the Asian languages on her walkie talkie, but she said nothing.

At this point I was starting to be convinced that something was seriously wrong and that those in charge were having great difficulty figuring out what to do about it. To my surprise everyone in the tram remained calm - as best as I could tell anyway. After another 15 minutes, Anne and I could see three men in yellow slickers walking toward the tram - one was carrying a chainsaw. They passed us by and still our driver said nothing. The storm had abated, but there were streams of water flowing down the tracks and the rain continued. After another 10 minutes, the tram began a slow ascent back to where we had started.

Now, our bus was waiting for us 40 minutes away at the bottom of the tram station, so when were ordered off the tram, we were advised to go back into the crowded mall where we could visit Burger King again if we wished while we waited 40 minutes for the bus to make it back up to pick us up. Thankfully there was WiFi access in the mall, so I was able to read some interesting articles on the new “socialism” that is emerging in the Democratic Party - with new names like progressive capitalism, democratic capitalism, or social democracy. I liked what I was learning about a possible political solution to the abysmal failures of the current broken capitalism.

 By the time we finally made it back to the ship, it was too late for us to go our our next excursion “Hong Kong by Night,” which was to start with an eight-course dinner featuring my favorite - Peking duck - and a view of the famous laser light show that fills the whole city. So we made clear that we expected a full refund (the excursion was $120 per person - it must have included a big fucking duck!), and retired to our room for a drink, a chance to destress, and some research on a good place in walking distance to have dinner.

 During the ordeal, I was frightened at a few points, very grateful that we were standing in a separate space and not seated or standing in the middle of the crowd, angry at the tour organizers for going ahead with the tram ride when it should have been obvious that a dangerous thunderstorm was coming, pleasantly surprised at the calmness of the crowd on the tram, and sad that our day (and evening) in Hong Kong was a bust. Even if the tram had been able to complete the trip, and even accepting our bad luck on the weather, I thought the tour sucked. (Our tour guide, a 58-year old female Hong Kongian, was obsessed with wealth and power, and went on and on about how well the rich had it and how hard it was for working folks to get by in Hong Kong.) Maybe many of those we saw spending big money in the glitzy mall were not from Hong Kong.

We did manage to salvage the day however. We found a one-star Michelin-rated Asian restaurant, Ye Shangrila (check it out on Google) in the four-star Marco Polo Hong Kong hotel. It was quite a walk through the crowded temple of high end consumption, but the food was the best that we had on the trip (I was able to order an excellent duck dish.) The service was outstanding, and the happy chatter of all the Asians, many in large groups, electrifying. We did receive the excursion refund and had only spent half of it on dinner!

 This has been a long post, so I will follow with some photos and reflections tomorrow.

Yesterday in Ha Long

We have learned an important lesson about cruise excursions - do not choose one based on the description in the brochure alone - get details. For example: how long is the bus ride each way? What portion of the time will be spent on each activity?

Yesterday we had booked “kayaking in Ha Long Bay,” only to discover that the kayaking was for one hour and the other three hours were going to be spent doing the exact same junk cruise around the bay as we had done the day before!

So it goes - we did have an interesting conversation with two fellow kayakers on the way back to the ship. This was quite a contrast to our interaction with several of the alpha males on the trip. Early on in the trip, we were about eight (four couples) sitting on the upper deck of the boat having an interesting conversation about what we were learning about southeast asian history, politics, and economics, when one of the guys launched into a self congradulatory riff on the companies he had bought and sold, his favorite being Beretta (which I think he worked for at a senior level). This led to a conversation between alpha 1 and alpha 2 about the guns they owned, the guns they had purchased for their wives, and where they did their shooting. Alpha 1 allowed as he had a gun range in his home and one in his back yard.

We left Ha Long for Hong Kong around 7:30 pm.

Kayaking Location

Ha Long

After arriving at our dock in Ha Long harbor, we set off an a four-hour boat ride on one of the tourist “junks.” The wooden boats have two sails, but none were in use on our or any of the boats we saw. The ride through the limestome monoliths was interesting for the first two hours. The trip was actually four hours long - during which we sat and watched this very determined young Vietnameses woman work hard to sell jewelry made from locally cultivated pearls (black and white) to our fellow passengers. She made one sale of a necklace with 6 pearls and a pair of matching earings sor $40.

One note about life on board this beautiful ship - the entertainment last night included the cruise director, the assistant cruise director, and four young crew members designated as vocalists singing theme songs from past hit movies - they weren’t great singers, but with the sound track, the lighting, and their evident delight in performing, it made for an enjoyable evening.

Yesterday - Da Nang to Ha Long Bay

We cruised overnight to this town (and UNESCO world heritage site) in northern Vietnam. We learned that there are nearly two thousand of limestone rocks in the bay. What an odd combination of attractions coexist here. First there is the huge bay littered with these oddly shaped rocks, creating a labyrinth of passageways for the dozens of tour boats. Then there is the disneyland wannabe amusement park adjascent to our dock (which is brand new) - a park built by one of third richest busienssmen in Vietnam (Mr. Sun) - named Sun World - which includes a huge gondola ride across the bay up to a large complex on top of a hill. And then there are the recently completed grand hotels on both sides of the bay - and the four or so still under construction. And mixed in with all the tour boats (and smalller cruise boats) are huge tankers, long barges filled with stuff (many with wood chips headed for paper factories), and fishing boats of all sizes.

Had to Get One In

Lights Up at Night

Last of the Hoi An Excursion

I left off just after lunch feeling like I was going to collapse in a puddle of perspiration and hoping for a return to the air conditioned bus... alas, the next stop (another long walk away) was at a lantern factory where we were each going to sit on a low tiny stool and make a lantern! There were a few fans around, but I was too wiltled to join in a camp craft exercise, so I went looking for a silk shirt thinking I would shed the soaking one that I was wearing and wear a cooler one.

Anne made a nice yellow lantern, and I found a shirt, but decided not to stink it up. And so we trekked back to the bus for the long ride back to the ship.

Lantern Class

I think this was a taoist temple

Photos From Hoi An

Sewing Silk Clothing

Hand Stitched Paintings

Stitching Detail

Ancient Japanese Bridge

Behind Again - Yesterday in Da Nang

We took another bus ride (2 hours) through the outskirts of Da Nang to the ancient city of Hoi An, a UNESCO world heritage site. (On the way our slightly annoying tour guide pointed out the hangers where the military kept the hueys used to carry marines into battle - what remains of the air base the US military built in Da Nang.) Da Nang is a coastal town with many beaches and fancy beach resorts, and it was hot and humid - a better day for a swim than a walking tour of a crowded city.

Cars are not allowed, but motorbikes are. There were a few tourist highlights, but the ancient city is really one large market with a mix of high end silks and leather and cheap tshirts (the most common one - Good Morning Vietnam) and other souvenirs. So the sidewalks are mostly filled with restaurant tables and vendors, forcing pedestrians (of which there were many) onto the streets only to beconstantly hassled by horn honking motorbikers.

We visited a silk factory where we were shown the silk-making process - which is pretty amazing. The silkworms are raised on big leaves on which they spin their cacoons. The cacoons are placed in a hot bath, and the silk strands are pulled from them on a device that eventually creates a big skane of silk. The silk is dyed and then woven into fabric on looms for use in making clothes. (This slow traditional process has been replaced with automated devices.)

The factory we visited included numerous women at sewing machines and others at stations set up for them to create complex and beautiful pictures using silk threads and hand-stitched embroidary. No surprise , the factory also seconded as a large market selling silk fabric (you could have a dress made and sent to the ship the next day), ready-made silk clothing, and silk pictures (which were really beautiful and looked like photos or fine paintings.)

Next up was the covered Japanese bridge built in the 16th century - the only known covered bridge with a Buddhist temple attached to one side. By this point I am seriously worried about heat exhaustion as we had walked several miles with no break. So we walked another long way to a restaurant for lunch, which was set up with long tables, so we were packed in. The food was excellent, though served in a way that required folks to understand which four were to share each plate - and several of our neighbors required repeated instruction in this sharing method.

About 3/4 of the way through the meal the power cut out and the a/c quit! I had to get up and go outside hunting for a breeze - I was soaked through and yearning for a good fan.

Today - Monday at Sea Again

These days underway offer a welcome opportunity to enjoy this beautiful ship and all that it has to offer. Yesterday we listened to a pianist, some singers, played scrabble, went to another lecture, enjoyed the spa and gym, and manged to consume another excellent dinner before diving into sleep. Today we took an onboard Italian cooking class (risota with duck confit, saltimboca with angel hair pasted tossed with sun dried tomatoes and garlic, and tiramisou) - all this between 9 am and Noon. We made a mistake and ate a little breakfast.

Ingredients

Saltimboca with Angel Hair

More Catching Up

Our next stop on the Meykong was for lunch. We were ushered into a decent sized wood and bamboo building and seated six to a table. The first dish was a whole fried Talapia, pictured below. Our server took a square sheet of rice paper, placed some cucumber slices and basil leaves on it, pulled off a chunk of fish placing it in the middle, and folded and rolled it up. We each had a little bowl of sauce to dip it in.

Cute No?

Preparaion

The next course was a salad with vegetables and pork, followed by a soup with vegetables and shrimp, and then a selection of excellent fresh fruit, all washed down with the local 333 beer. After lunch we were treated to a musical performance which consisted of some local instruments and two singers - it was lovely.

Then we tied up to a bush on the side of the river so that the crew could cut up coconuts for us to drink. The bushes were alive with cicada.

Try this: https://youtu.be/I0oDWj_Mhs4

Our final stop on th river was to tie  up to a tree so that folks could hop into a sampan and be rowed around a back creek by the sampan ladies. I chose to stay on the boat along with a number of others, but Anne went:

Sampan Anne


Meanwhile I took this photo - there were many of these on the river.

Look Insibde

Catching Up - Monday Morning Here

Still at sea on our way to Da Nang. Yesterday’s tour left at 7 am and began with a 3 hour bus ride to Cai Be on the Mekong River. On the way we saw miles of rural Vietnam and many small towns. Here life was clearly much harder. Many of the roads were four lanes with tolls, and they were crowded with trucks and buses. But the rural roads were two lane and the villages lined with all manner of shops, mostly small with some cooking going on in front. We passed through one set of villages where there were many huge warehouses of sacks which I took to be mostly rice. We passed many rice and fruit farms.

We left the bus and got on a small boat - a long narrow wooden vessel with an inboard engine - and set off for a cruise on the Meykong. The river was busy with all manner of working barge-like wooden boats carrying eveything from rice to gravel to logs. We passed long lines of fish farms floating on the river - we could see the young red snapper swimming around in the pens.

Fish Farming

We stopped at a candy factory where they make a toffee-like candy from coconut oil and sugar and a slightly sweet puffed rice snack sold in little rectangles the size of a small candy bar. All the work is done by hand with the packing performed by young girls. We sampled the rice cakes and candies - they were excellent. We were told that it was a very successful family business.

Packaging

They also sold some exotic jarred creatures. Guess what is in these jars.

Traffic

Most people cannot afford cars, so there are millions of motorbikes on the road. Gas is cheap, at $1 per litter.

Typial Saigon Intersection

Back At Sea on the Way to Da Nang, Vietnam

Our tour of Saigon started in an odd place - the Jade Emporer Pagoda, a Chinese temple to Taoism. Several photos will illustrate - quite a change from Buddist Temples.

Wards off evil spirits 

A Tao Shrine

Next we visited an old post office building built by the French and now restored and converted to a tourist center with many shops. This photo is prominantly displayed on the back wall when you enter:

Guess Who?

Our tour guide was a bubbly young Vietnamese woman who spoke frankly about the economic challenges that face the average citizen. While all are free to worship as they please, to own property, to start and run a business, and to come and go from Vietnam as they please, financial stability is very hard to achieve.  We toured the most prosperous district in the city as the next days tour would make abundantly clear.

Very Long Day

Awake at 5:30 am for an 11 hour excursion to the Mekong River! Done for today  - more tomorrow.

Holy Cat

Saigon

I prefer this name and apparently it is an acceptable alternative with the people. I am also realizing that I am glad that I did no research on these cities that we have and will visit on this trip. This has left me open to listening better to the tour guides and the lecturers, and it has opened me to being suprised. Bangkok was an odd mix of architecture and infrastructure (noisy and well used river ferries and a modern air conditioned sky train), and Sihanoukville was a disasaster, a squalid urban mess.

And today Saigon: a modern city in many ways with good roads, sidewalks, traffic lights, and many completed buildings. Due to high price of cars, most of the vehicles on the road are motorbikes and scooters - hundreds of them! More to follow...

Yesterday While at Sea

We made use of the whirlpool, hot tub, sauna, and gym. My body was happier. We also attended a lecture by the resident historian, Dr. Freedman - check out his work at scholaratsea.com. His lectures are well illustrated with excellent slides and full of amazing details. This one was about the history of Vietnam (there were two parts - Anne saw both - I saw the second) and focused on the Vietnam War and its aftermath. It was a painful reminder of that awfull period in my adolescent history, and the war’s impact on trust in our government.

We just attended his lecture with the title “The Mighty Mother Mekong,” which focused on the importance of the river on the lives of all those who live in Southeast Asia. We have just docked at the Saigon Pemier Container Terminal, and will be taking a tour of Ho Chi Minh City this afternoon.

Sunrie This Morning

First View of Vietnam

A City en Route

Village Visit

Happy to See Us

More Happy to See Us

She is 74 and Has No Children And Lives Alone - Above

Pots Drying