10-14-08 - Da Nang, Vietnam

The weather was fairly muggy, but not too hot in Da Nang.  Once again, we took the shuttle bus into the center of the town and just walked around.  The first impression of Da Nang is of a tremendous energy fueled by countless motorbikes zooming every which way. The drivers were actually quite polite and orderly.  We were able to cross streets comfortably and they always avoided us and didn’t cut too close.  Prices were also very low, which pleased you-know-who.  We went through a local covered market where they were selling everything from fresh fish to pig's feet. Adele bought some feminine supplies - two packages for a dollar. There was very little English spoken, so we got by with pointing and gestures.  Although walking around was fun, we were constantly harassed by guys trying to take us for tours on their pedicabs.  I know they were just trying to make a living, but it was really tiresome. Possibly the high point was when Adele spotted a hair dresser (open shop front) and decided that a haircut would be just the thing.  Since no English was spoken, she settled on a price of $5 by pointing to a picture that was sort of what she wanted.  She looked like she was getting a good job, so her faithful husband struck a deal for $3 for his haircut.  The barber's assistant (a very cute young woman) set me up and the barber came over to cut me while the assistant worked on Adele.  We were both satisfied and very surprised when the haircut package included a neck rub from the (very cute) assistant.  Then I was really satisfied. A little bit more walking was all we had energy for, but Adele found two sets of bamboo wind chimes with which to annoy the neighbors at home.  By then it was getting hot and our feet were tired, so for a dollar each, we took a pedicab back to the shuttle bus pickup.

10-16-2008 – Phu My, Vietnam

Cruising into Phu My was quite interesting.  It is on a river which wound through mangrove swamps - somewhat like a mini-Amazon.  At one point, we saw another large ship looming over the forest, but no river in sight.  Kind of a strange thing to see. In Phu My, we didn't even go ashore.  It was quite hot and muggy and the shuttle bus only went to some nameless town an hour away.  So we stayed on board to enjoy the cool ship.  Imagine our joy when the ship’s air-conditioning failed.  We sat around getting hotter and hotter until about 4:00 PM when they finally got things working again and the ship gradually cooled down.  Not our best day of the trip. We sailed away into the South China Sea through hordes of fishing boats, each witha single bright floodlight (to attract fish?).  The overall effect was like going through a starry night.

10-19-2008 - Laem Chebang, Thailand

We had two days in this town.  The actual town (Pattaya) was about a 40 minute shuttle ride from the ship.  On the first day, we took the early shuttle in for a bit of shopping.  Downtown was the usual mixture of storefront shops and semi-malls.  The thing that caught my eye was the number of Caucasians walking around with local honeys on their arms.  Apparently, the town is well-known for a “special” kind of vacation for guys – I can only assume the honeys were tour guides.  However, the only thing we bought was a pair of walking shorts for me. The ship was fairly empty since many people took the two-hour bus (or taxi) ride to Bangkok for a day on the town. The weather was oppressively hot and humid, so we did not stay long.  We got back to the ship to find the HVAC was out again.  We spent the rest of the day looking for cool spots to sit.  They finally got our room AC working about 11 PM!

The second day I took an excursion to a local Tiger Zoo.  The zoo was quite interesting.  They had a breeding program and there were loads of tiger cubs running around.  They increased their breeding rate by taking the cubs away from the mother and giving them to mother sows for nursing.  It was really something to see a mixture of tiger cubs, baby pigs, and puppies (I don't know why puppies, but they were there) all at the same sow.  They also had a crocodile show, an elephant show and a tiger show.  I think I missed seeing much of the zoo because I went to the shows.  I was pretty sweat-soaked by the time we got on to the bus.

10-22-08 - Singapore

Another hot and muggy day.  For some reason, we only had one day scheduled in this special city.  We docked virtually in a huge mall.  Adele had an excellent time looking for bargains without ever leaving the (air-conditioned) building.  Since I quickly got bored with shopping, I decided to take a cable car ride.  The cable car station was on the 15th floor of a building next to the mall.  My first ride was up to Mt. Faber, a medium-sized hill overlooking the city.  The top of the hill was a lovely park which smelled like a flower farm.  There were a few great views, but most vistas were blocked by huge trees. I enjoyed the views so much that (after lunch) I decided to take the cable car in the opposite direction to a “pleasure island” called Senosa.  Although the ride itself was spectacular (we rode right over the ship), the island itself was quite disappointing.  It was a tourist trap par excellence.  I remember standing between a Subway, an ice cream shop, and an insect zoo while listening to speakers blaring “Hava Nagila.”  Most of the area is under heavy construction and will be done by 2010.

10-25-08 - Padang Bay, Bali, Indonesia

This was the first really third-world port we had been to.  We tendered ashore and found flocks of kids and adults peddling everything from pencils to statuary.  Adele stayed at the port for some light shopping.  She bought a bright-red tablecloth which she uses for a nighttime cover.  I went on an excursion to see dancers, wood-carvers and painters.  As usual, the weather was oppressively humid, though not too hot. The guide told us that the island had more (Hindu) temples that there were houses.  I didn’t quite believe him at first, but it was true!  Every house had a shrine or two in the yard, and it seemed like every other bock was the site for a medium or large scale temple. The dancers put on a really good 30-minute show.  Since the guide had given us a sheet explaining the meaning of what we were to see, we could even (more or less) understand what was going on between the tiger, the monkey, and the various gods and princes.  The costumes were spectacular and some of the dances were really humorous. The next stop was the wood-carvers.  Although it was mostly a large set of buildings selling stuff, we did get to see some carvers actually working.  The carvings were really spectacular.  Some were 10 feet tall, though most would fit in a living room. The last scheduled stop was the painters’ workshop.  That was good for about a 10-minute walkthrough.  I am not that much into primitive acrylic paintings, although there were some nice nudes. The last stop was in the middle of the road where the bus broke down.  After an hour the driver fixed it, but with that and the tender delays, it was 3:00 PM before I got back to the ship, hot & hungry.