Bangkok, Thailand

Excursion to the Bridge on the River Kwai

Our guide Tawee and the driver, his son, took us on a 5 hour round trip road trip to the Bridge on the River Kwai.

It included a stop at the Kanchanaburi War Cemetary one of three that contains the remains of 100,000 civilians and 15,000 prisoners of war who died in the forced building of the railway from Burma to Thailand during the second world war.

We arrived at the Bridge by motorboat. Tawee assured us that the bridge of the movie and the bridge in reality were two different things.

Terry  crossing the Bridge on the River Kwai

The Trip

Sea Days



My Explorer

Sea days are Perfect for exploring the ship and trying out activities we would otherwise never think of doing.   This day was as gorgeous as the day before was gloomy.  Not that gloomy ever defines us. We can have a good time anywhere.

Skywalker Nightclub

Our first venture was up to the nightclub on the 17th deck. Always available to frolic at night, it was pleasantly deserted during the day and offered stunning views of the ocean.

Terry of course, wanted to see if he could survive the 17 deck drop.

Front of the Ship from Skywalker

The Conservatory

At the very front of the ship, visible from Skywalker were three spas. 

There were rarely more than 2 or 3 people in each of them making it almost a private pool! Because there were so many private areas available the ship offered illusions of private indulgence...like it was our own private yacht. 

There were other pool areas too of course, some busy (i.e. kid friendly) and some not. The pool to the right was reserved for adults.  

C752 Caribe Deck, Home for 14 days

My house never looks this good. Thanks to May for taking such good care of us.



Rocky making himself at home

  

Living Room with My Kind of View

The View - also The Reading Deck



My One and Only Zumba Class, Club Fusion



Sea days are optimal for activities you usually wouldn't think twice about.  Zumba for one.



Carpet Bowling

Carpet Bowling for another. Does sound a little silly, doesn't it?

Beverly Tams

Or maybe learn Chinese? Unlikely I would try this at home. The Beverly of Peter and Beverly Tams tried to teach us a few Chinese words. A few is about all my little mind can handle.  There are more than 2,000 Chinese characters, but many of them stand for a whole word. They remind me of hieroglyphics. 

I tried to find a few online with little success so I suppose I may have to draw them myself. I may not be looking in the right place but my translation tools are not coming up with the same drawings she gave us.  And my drawings would probably be wildly inaccurate, so maybe I'll pass. Interesting though.

So a perfect ending to a perfect day? FORMAL NIGHT! Terry rented a tuxedo.  Probably the best idea he had in years.  For one reason we were limited on luggage size, and for another his gynormous shoes alone take up a whole suitcase. That might be an exaggeration.

Mary, Mary Pat and Terry - right to left - aTable with a View at Sabatinis



This formal night and most mornings we ate at Sabatini's. One of the few places on board where you have to pay for food.  Breakfasts were free for Suite People however. And Terry got a LOT of special attention.

It did keep us out of the madness associated with Formal Nights...photographers in every available corner.  Our photo bill  alone by the end of the cruise was enough to go on another cruise. The kids will have a huge (expensive) bonfire when we're gone.



My Guy...He could be a Movie Star!! No?



Emergency on the Diamond Princess

Around 10 last night the Captain told us that one of the crew was very very ill and needed to be transported to Singapore.  The Singapore Air Force would be sending a helicopter and parts of decks 11 and 12 would need to be evacuated for safety reasons.  He said they would need to do a winch transfer.

Early in the night they had announced that someone needed an emergency transfusion of  blood type O.

The helicopter circled the ship multiple times.

We heard this morning that it was successful and the crew member was successfully removed.

Earlier the Captain told us they were having problems with one of the engines.  We will be late landing in Singapore.

In the Shadow of the Banyan - A novel by Vaddey Ratner, based on her own life

On the longer cruises there is often a book club sponsored by the ship.  The book or books selected are often located in the countries to be visited. This was one of the books selected for this cruise. Not only was the book well written, but the story was both fascinating and saddening. Although I knew some of this tragic story, I was blissfully ignorant of the specifics. I learned a lot.

Vaddey Ratner

Location Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Date 1975

Background: 1970 brought an end to the monarch and established the Khmer Republic.  The existing royalty  thought this would bring a bright new era with democratic rule.  Unfortunately it failed to bring stability to a country engulfed by the war spreading from Vietnam.    A marginal guerilla warfare group called the Khmer Rouge gained strength.  Leaders were from same intellectual class as the Prince Sisowath but were steeled with a radicalism that even the most politically astute could not gauge.

From 1975-1979 atrocities committed by the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia cost the lives of an estimated one to two million people.

The story is told through the eyes of 7 year old Raami whose fairy tale childhood ends with the footsteps of her father known as Mechas Klah or the “Tiger Prince(who was the prince, a great grandson of King Sisowath) returning home in the early dawn hours with details of the civil war spreading through the streets of Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s capital.  Soon the family’s world of carefully guarded royal privilege is swept up in chaos and forced exodus.

Armed young militia forced the city people at gunpoint  to abandon their homes claiming that the Americans were going to bomb the city. They attempted to strip every person of their individual identity and their connections with other people, and got rid of all things motorized - cars etc. returning individuals to back breaking manual labor from dawn to nightfall in exchange for one can of rice. Children under a certain age were not considered persons and got no food.  Families were split up and sent to different parts of the country. Colorful clothes had to be dyed black or brown.

Raami’s father who was a poet as well as a prince was identified by Raami when she was questioned by a member of the Khmer Rouge. She was too young to know the effect of telling the truth.  It is presumed he was executed. Raami’s Big Uncle, aunt, their twin nephews, her father’s sister and the Queen Grandmother tottering on the edge of senility were left together. Later the grandmother  was asked who belonged to her and did not identify Raami, her mother and sister, so they were sent away separately.  We find out later that when her uncle was sent to be reeducated the rest of the family, except for Queen Grandmother were hung.

Somehow despite the harsh conditions mother and children survived the harsh conditions. Then Sister Radana contracted malaria and died. Heartbreakingly,  she was dressed for her funeral, taken by the new Khmer leadership  known as Democratic Kampuchea. The leader’s wife known as Fat One takes the child and says she will be returned to the rice fields to fertilize the rice. Later they see Fat One’s child wearing Radona’s  beautiful dress. .

Mother and daughter escaped to Thailand and were rescued by a UN helicopter. They eventually found a new home in the United States.

The regime was finally overthrown by Vietnamese military in January 1979 bringing the revolutionary experiment to an end. 

The story was based on the author’s experiences. She arrived in the US in 1981, graduated in 1990 as high school class valedictorian.  Summa cum laude graduate of Cornell where she specialized in Southwest Asian history and literature.  Website www.vaddeyratner.com

Ho Chi Minh City - Saigon, Vietnam

Mr. Nghia

Our Morning View from the Ship at Pho My

We were picked up at the pier by our guide Mr. Nghia and driver Mr. Tam.  We were the only 4 on the tour. It took around 2 hours to get to Ho Chi Minh City so along the way Nghia told us about himself and our destination.

Nghia raised on the Mekong Delta s close to the border of Cambodia .  He told us there were 20 million people in Cambodia and 90 million in Vietnam.

Vietnamese school children today learn English beginning at age 6 and it is the predominant foreign language for the young.  Older people speak French or German instead.

Children go to school 6 days a week, from 7:30 to 11:30, go home for lunch and resume at 12:30 or 1 going to 4:30 or 5.

Average age of death for a woman in Vietnam is 72-74, for a man 68 to 70.  They generally don’t have health insurance in old age unless they are wealthy.  The oldest child is responsible for caring for his parents as they age.  Nghia bought a health insurance policy for his mother and takes care of her.  He has 4 siblings.

Theres' a bike under that load

Nghia’s wife is an accountant for a bank and works from 7:30 AM to 11:30 and then 1 to 5 Monday through Saturday.  Government jobs are usually 5 days a week from 7:00 to 4:30.  Nghia  has worked as a guide for 7 years, has 1 wife and 1 boy.  In the muslim tradition you can have 5 wives and children with each of them, which is why he phrased it that way.

There are 63 provinces in Vietnam.  Ho Chi Minh city is 98 square kilometers.

Nghia told us there are 8 to 10 million people in Saigon and 6 million motor cycles. At least some of the highways have a right lane designated for cycles, but they are all over the road anyway carrying all manner of stuff.  Speed limit is 40  km city, 60 to 80 on highway.  70 percent of accidents involve motorcycles, 40 percent care. Yes I know that is more than  100 percent.  12,000 a year die on the roads.  It was worse before the mandatory helmet law.

Although the price of gas is roughly the same as in the United States, the average income is around 700$ a month or less.  A construction worker makes about $10.00 a day, maybe twice that for a skilled, experienced worker.

Our first stop was at  the Jade Emperor Pagoda. A lot of activity with people selling fish and turtles, lighting incense, praying. As we toured I wondered again if I would be as patient with foreigners in my church. There are many  temples in all of these Asian countries. One reason for that is that building a temple is one way to ensure a good afterlife. There are 40,000 temples in Vietnam.

We drove by the Opera House and stopped long enough at the Notre Dame church to take the picture.

Handicap worker making art out of duck shells

We visited a handicapped factory, purchasing a couple of small pieces of art produced by workers like this one.

Mr. Nghia told us that they import new cars from Japan - favorite care Toyota. 1995 opened trade with America. Coca Cola built a plant in 94.  2 months ago Starbucks opened  their first Store.  We were there!

Pho 2000 open 24 hours a day, was the restaurant that Bill Clinton ate at.  Interesting part is you can see how they cook, but we opted for dining on the rooftop of the Rex Hotel, mostly for the view and the hope of semi-familiar food.  I know its awful but we are pretty past experimenting with new and different cuisine.

Nha Trang, Vietnam

The weather was warm enough to have breakfast on the porch - a first! 

Our port lecturer talked about the huge Russian Resort Vinpearl.  A cable car running continuously between the islands delivers the rider to the Vinpearl amusement park and resort for a mere US $18.00.  However they refuse to give the ship any safety information for the cable car, so she could not recommend that we take it.  My take on it was that the Russian’s refusal might just have been a way to keep us from infiltrating their paradise. Nonetheless, we did not go, as we had a scheduled tour.

She had a number of other ominous warnings that made us glad we were on a tour.  Evidently some past cruises have taken the pedicabs and ended up in a side alley where they were forced to pay more money before they would let them leave.  If you take a taxi she recommended that you make him sign a contract regarding where he was taking you, the amount it would cost and pay only when you were delivered.  She also mentioned that you needed to wait until he got in the car and started it, as it might not have any gas.

Our small tour guide Wee with driver Ging (phonetic spelling) took us to a variety of ‘factories’.  They were nothing like what we call factories except that they produce a product.

The first factory was a couple of ladies weaving mats. One of our willing group assisted for a while.

The second one was an embroidery factory. Lots of girls/women were busy stitching throughout the factory.  The results were stunning


The third stop was an orphanage. On the walk there we were besieged by small entrepreneurs hawking fans and postcards.  They were too cute to turn down.

7 postcards for US 1$

Unfortunately the children had the day off so the only ones there were 5 or 6 small ones sleeping and one baby. If I understood him correctly he said that one of the ways that children ended up in the orphanage is when young boys/girls fall in lust, have babies, can’t pay to get married, the child ends up in an orphanage because it is not allowed to have a child with unmarried parents. Then the child is moved to other orphanages away from the birthplace.


Our guides description of a woman’s life was far less than what we have in the US. According to him they don’t go to school, work in family factories, stay home and clean, cook, go to market and generally do all of the work men don’t want to do. I wouldn’t last long.

On the road to Buddha we were accosting by a roving band of cows. Our guide stopped the bus so we could be blessed by them but by the time we got out of the van they were gone. Terry took the blame for scaring them off.

While we were snapping pics, one of the guys found some money in the ground rolled up.  He gave it to the guide who told him that it was fake money that people buried at a Buddhist funeral. So he replaced it in the ground where it appears the fire/funeral took place.

Next stop was an illustration of a typical house, basically in three parts.  The middle part was the area where the worship took place. Generally there would be a picture with Buddha.  In one wing would be the men, in the other women and children.  Men and women were separated.

Choices for employment in Nha Trang were limited to tourism and fishing.  Most young people move to Saigon, as there was only one university in Nha Trang.  Mostly older people and poorer people stayed here and worked in the ‘factories’.


Buddhists believe that after death a couple of possibilities exist - you might be reborn as a person, an animal, achieve immortality or go to hell forever.  That is why they behave as well as possible during life.  Actions that get you into trouble include telling a lie, disrespecting your parents, killing a living being - which is why many of them are vegetarians.

Before the helmet law was passed ridiculous amounts of people were transported on one motorbike - we saw a picture with EIGHT on one bike.  They still manage to transport all kinds of cargo on a bike.
The next factory was a Rice Paper factory. This is the kind of  paper that is used for spring rolls and Terry confirmed that the restaurants in the area obtained their rice paper from this factory. As fascinating as it was, I’m pretty sure there’d be no FDA approval of the plant.

Our next stop was lunch, a beautiful little restaurant by the CAI River. Spring rolls were served - and we ate them. They were good.  As usual they served much more food that we could eat, or would eat, some of it we just couldn’t be sure what it was.  What I did recognize I
consumed…dragon fruit, cucumbers, tomatoes, tuna,

We did see a Buddha.  He is the big one.  We are the miniature ant looking creatures below him.

Last stop was the Market.  While it wasn’t as crowded as the last one we visited, it was still more than we could handle.  Terry did find a cobra inside a bottle.  Evidently drinking it has the same effect as Viagra.  I told Terry he didn’t need it.

The tender home was fun since we got to sit on TOP of the tender and watch the cable cars on their way to Vinpearl, take the requisite pictures of the Diamond Princess, and think about what we were going to see on our next trip to Dha Nang.  We didn’t see the 5 star Russian Resort or take the questionable cable car, ride a pedicab, go to Oceanographis Museum, see Longson Pagoda or Sleeping Buddha. Terry thinks I’m nuts. He may be right.

Macau

Hong Kong Day II  - Macau, City of Dreams

Herman

Herman, our tour guide, explained that to get to Macau we would take a half hour bus ride to the Ferry Port, process through immigration out of Hong Kong, ride the ferry to Macau, and finally process through immigration into Macau. It seems a little silly since we were going from one China Special China Municipality to another, like going from Texas to Oklahoma with borders.  Herman couldn't help us with immigration but promised  he would be waiting for us on the other side.  75% of the tourists in Macau are weekend gamblers from China.

Macau is 11.39 square miles with around 600,000 people, a former Portuguese colony with the first settlers arriving in the 1550's.

Mary P was under the weather so it was just the Three Musketeers on this trip. Our Turbojet looked like this one - we passed each other along the way - except ours was blue, i think. We crossed the Pearl River Delta which is the convergent point of three upstream rivers (East River, North River, West River) and is filled with hundreds of small islands. Macau Pennisula is actually part of mainland China. Guangdong (South Canton) is on the north, China Sea to the east. It includes two islands Taipa and Coloane, which are now connected by landfill forming the Cotai Strip

Mary A and Terry

Terry and Pat

Comfortable seats, smooth ride, good coffee, great company - i enjoyed the 45 minute ride. So did Terry, surrounded as he was by beautiful women.

It turned out to be another romantic day - this one misty and raining. We enjoyed it, but the resulting pictures of our tourist stops at Sao Paulo Cathedral, Macau Museum, A Ma Temple, The 360 rotating restaurant on the 60th floor of the the Sky Tower, those moving targets outside my bus window (we were moving, not the targets) resulted in less than optimal photographs.  For really beautiful pictures  just google Macau. Sunshine makes everything sparkle.




Our ship chaperone was one of the talented singers, Danny (i think), from Jamaica,  Delightful guy, great singer. Always more fun to go to the show when you've met the stars and they wave back when you wave at them from the front row.  We're pretty enthusiastic fans. (His face wasn't really blurry, it's just my inability to hold a camera steady.) Danny's job was to make sure we didn't lose any tourists in Macau...tempting  as it was, we really didn't have the time to try out any of the casinos there. It's likely we would have lost a few shipmates if we had.



Sao Paolo Cathedral



Our first stop was the St. Paul Church (Ruinas de Sao Paolo on the map) built in 1602,  destroyed in 1835 by fire during a typhoon.  The front wall was all that was left. They choose not to rebuild in the same spot because they judged it to be a bad location.

Chinese Temple

Right next to the church was a small Chinese temple for the god Na Tcha built in 1888 and rebuilt in 1901. Our guide told us it's proximity to the Jesuit chuch is  a testimony to the religious diversity and tolerance in Macau. 

Na Tcha is a favorite character in Chinese folk stories; a teenage hero endowed with powers by a Taoist priest which he used to fight the Sea Dragon King to protect his village.  Today he is worshipped as a god of protection.  Every year there is a procession departing from this temple in homage to Na Tcha god, an event that originated in this temple and continues today. 

Sky Tower
360 Restaurant

Across the street from the cathedral and temple isThe Museum of Macao devoted to exploring the history of Macao and Chinese culture. 15 minutes isn't long enough to do it justice, but we were trying to get to lunch...it had been a few hours since our last meal. We'll just have to go back.

We headed for the Sky Tower 360 rotating restaurant, enjoyed an excellent and varied Asian buffet with way too many tempting desserts and a spectacular view of Macau, despite the clouds and rain.

Lunch Entertainment

On one of our rotations we watched a guy jump off a perfectly good tower. I'm not sure what it looks like from the bottom of the tower, but there is a blow up mattress to cushion his landing.

I'm sure it is a thrill but it's not something I will be doing until I am unable to do anything else and then it may be the last thrill, if you know what I mean.






A Ma Temple



Our last stop was at the A Ma Temple, also on the map above, 1st temple built in 1552 during the Ming Dynasty. Actually there are 4 temples on the hill with a variety of options for purchasing incense and candles to make offerings to the gods. They seem to have a wide variety of gods, each with its own speciality and powers. Depending on what you need in your life, you buy an offering and present it with a prayer to that god. Probably a great oversimplification, but then it is difficult to comprehend, coming from a religion that has only one.  I'm not saying I am any more enlightened but having been raised with one god with all power it seems a little strange. But obviously it works for them. I mostly have given up on specific requests for myself. I was taught to pray for big ideas like world peace and other people in a general nonspecific, hopefully nonselfish, way.



Casinos, Casinos, Casinos



Macau of course is the gambling capital of China.  They probably have a god of gambling. We did not get the opportunity to explore the casinos but we passed a lot of them on the tour. The Sands opened in 2005. We spotted a MGM grand with the usual gold lion out front and a Wynn. There was a Rio, but it was not related to the Las Vegas Rio. I especially liked the center Grand Casino, towering above the rest and visible from all our stops although it was often covered with clouds/mist or rain. 

Yet another great reason to return for a week long stay to explore all the parts of Macao that we didn't get to see, and those we only briefly encountered.

Symphony of Lights, Victoria Harbor, Hong Kong

Best seats in the house, well ship, our balcony.

Hong Kong Day I

Leaving the Diamond Princess on our HK Tender

This would be a different way for us to sightsee - our only planned tour was at night.  So we ate a leisurely breakfast and sauntered down to disembark.  We tendered to port, an uneventful but crowded boat ride. It's hard to believe I was ever afraid of boats, but then these boats are a lot different from the row boat dad used on Big Stone Lake.

Big Bus HOHO

Once at the dock we headed for the Big Bus Hop On Hop Off Tour on the double decker bus.  Of course we didn't have a lot of time for hopping off, which is why we will be forced into going back to Hong Kong. We headed for the top of course. If anyone hasn't taken one of these tours, most of them have a pre recorded audio and free ear plugs so that you can hear about the sights and the bus driver can concentrate on driving. The Red Route was recommended, with stops at Victoria Peak Tramway, opened  May of 1888 when the first funicular carried guests to the top. Today  -  1.4 kilometers, 4 intermediate stations, millions of visitors a year.  Maybe next year...

At a fairly young age I fantasized that I might be an ambassador to a foreign country. I practiced speaking foreign languages. But then I found out people had to actually understand what you were saying, and more importantly you actually had to learn the language so you knew what you were saying.  Discouraged by hard work required, I remained fascinated with disparate cultures.

For instance, in Hong Kong, white symbolizes death, people go to great lengths to avoid conflict, it is considered rude to do any of the following: open a gift in front of the people who gave it to you, point at anything,  or to touch statutes and monuments. Not knowing this stuff is what gets us our reputation as Ugly Americans. For the most part, it doesn't seem we really care about our reputations.

Hong Kong from the Top of our Double Decker HOHO

June through September is typhoon season. All we had was a romantic day - clouds, sprinkles, mists. I inherited from my Uncle Vint a fondness for bus pictures, which tend to be blurry and with surprise subjects, but oh well. Since cameras have improved as well as our ability to edit pictures and for all intents and purposes, unlimited capacity to store photos, I guess it doesn't matter. I still remember when 24 or 36 pictures per roll was a lot and so were frequent stops at drug stores when we ran out of film.  I am ancient.

Tom is famous here too

We traveled past the Man Mo Temple, IFC Tower, Hong Kong Jockey Club, Happy Valley Race Course, Hong Kong  Park, Ocean Park, University of Hong Kong, and the tram to Victoria Peak. Unfortunately we were already running out of time!  A Police Training College originated in 1844 with the intent of stamping out piracy with 27,000 officers trained, 166 on patrol, ensuring Hong Kong has a low crime rate even in crowded areas. Electronic billboards everywhere including this one for Tom Cruise's new movie Oblivion. 

Our Big Bus Sampan Ride to Jumbo

BB took the Coast Road to Stanley Beach passing renowned Stanley Plaza, where the rich shop, on to Repulse Bay by the South China Sea, known as a hideaway for pirates in the 1840's, today a beautiful sandy beach area.  Not being a busy market or beach kind of girl we stayed on the bus until we reached the Sampan Ride which was included with the cost of the BB Red Route and headed out to the Jumbo Floating Restaurant. I had heard Tom (Cruise) ate here as well as Queen Elizabeth.  If it was good enough for them, it was definitely good enough for me. I think we later determined that they were in the VIP area, rather than where we commoners ended up. It was great anyway. Our Sampan dropped us off there although it wasn't a scheduled stop, courtesy of some other, more aggressive tourists - they may have Russians - they acted like some of the Russians on board.

The Famous Jumbo Floating Restaurant
from our Sampan

Being a Happy Tourist at Heart, I stumbled into the 2nd floor restaurant and enjoyed a sumptous repast, whatever that means, asked ridiculous questions and took copious pictures, including some of ourselves on the 'throne'.  Having noticed a number of these in fancy restaurants, it would seem these are used especially for celebrations.  We followed our Russian friends example and pretended we were important and honored.  



Even Terry looked slightly worried
as we headed in the wrong direction



Leaving the restaurant, we lost track of the Russians and ended up on a free ferry headed for parts unknown.  We really needed to get back to the Sampan landing and noticed that our more agressive compatriots had flagged down the Big Bus Sampan and were happily on their way back to where we needed to be. 

After landing where we weren't suppose to be and attempting to find our way back on convoluted city streets, we decided we would probably get lost, so consulted the boat drivers via sign language who suggested via sign language that we get on another free ferry that would land closer to the BB Sampan dock.  We pointed, exclaimed and sighed as we sailed past it, ending up a pretty good ways (at least for Americans) from our target destination.

Terrys New Friends

While some of us were less enthusiastic than others about our adventure, we really had a lovely walk back along the water, past some amazing people-sculptures that Terry kept trying to talk to.  At least we were more confident we could find the bus stop, even if we could not see it, since we could just follow the river.  



Allen and the statuette
she really does have a head



Our night tour departed from Terminal 4 (or maybe it was 2) at 5:30 from the Cruise Port so we hopped on the BB  and weren't able to hop off until the end. 

Our night guide Allen lead us down the $40 million dollar Avenue of Stars by Victoria Harbor, much like the the Hollywood Walk of Fame, where famous Chinese stars left their hand prints in the cement. Since we were really on our way to dinner, there was only enough time for a quick walk and not much looking - we recognized a few names: Bruce Lee, Jet Li, Chow Yun-Fat out of the 100 or so possibilities.   We ended up at the 4.5 meter replica of the statuette that is given to the winners at the Hong Kong Film Awards. Some of us were better about following directions than others, so while we rushed to be on time, we ended up waiting on our dawdling comrades.

It was a quick walk to the Peking Garden for Peking Duck, where the cook cut the roasted duck into 126 pieces and a talented waiter who knew how to use chopsticks to assemble pieces of roasted duck, scallions and sauce on a wafer thin pancake and folded it into a burrito. Maybe I was really hungry, but this peking duck was really delicious.

After dinner we headed back to Victoria Harbor for the Symphony of Lights - approximately 15 minute light show presented by the city for the tourists, set to music of course, and very well attended by what looked like locals as well as tourists. There was the usual jockying for position, but there wasn't really a bad position. The lights were everywhere.

Temple Market

It was a foggy night, so I'm sure the show was not as glorious as it could have been, but then I had nothing to compare it to, so I thought it was great.

Our last stop was a quick trip to Temple Market - open 6 p.m. to midnight, where there were WAY too many people for me. It went on for blocks with us bumping into people all the way down and back. Although it was not compulsory, I somehow felt compelled to do it all. How unusual. We finally figured out we could walk on the outside of the stalls and encounter far fewer bodies. 

Everything was for sale - luggage, electronics toys, trinkets, souvenirs, jewelry, t -shirts, beer, food .... Would that I had just one bargaining bone in my body.

The last boat ride was the tender back to ship so we said a fond Chai Jin (See you again) to Hong Kong.  The Chinese don't say good-bye. I guess that means we'll have to go back!



Hong Kong from the Tender on our way back to the Diamond Princess