KOCHI

Kochi, India 18Mar11

Our first visit to India was enhanced by a tour guide extraordinaire. His name was Chester and he absolutely helped wash away our (my) apprehensions of visiting India. An affable Canadian couple organized an off-the-ship tour via the internet and invited us along. Normally, this is something we would do ourselves but due to liability concerns as a result of our status representing Vacation.com, we are unable to do it on this trip.

We were a party of nine, 5 Aussies, 2 Canadians and us. First off the ship and onto a fifteen passenger minibus with excellent air conditioning. After a hair raising 2 hour ride over narrow two lane roads that were often treated as four lanes (reminded me of Egypt), we arrived at Kerala Backwaters, a series of freshwater canals that were formerly rice paddies. There we boarded a vessel that appeared to be hand built with thatch consisting of a living room, where we spent most of our time, two bedrooms, one bathroom and a kitchen. We cruised the canals for an hour and a half, being served a lovely meal of fried chicken, fried fish, yogurt, fresh pineapple, a whole coconut with straw, curried vegetables, rice, papadam, green beans and (for me) Kingfisher Beer. Tranquil serenity in an area of constant noise and motion. A very enjoyable experience.

From the houseboat we journeyed back toward the ship making several unscheduled stops including a once a year Hindi festival which involved fifteen elephants dressed in their Sunday best even though it was a Friday. We visited the Chinese fishing nets in Fort Cochin, ancient hand constructed fulcrum principled devices that are still in use today. But the best stop of all was a stop at Chester’s modest home in Fort Cochin where we were introduced to his mother and two of his sisters, who served us all coffee. This two room plus kitchen, corrugated tin roofed home was clean and well kept. Our reception by his family will remain with me for a long time. The living room was dominated by at least four different pictures of Jesus and a 24” HD TV with satellite reception.

This area having been dominated by the Portuguese for years before the British took over, Christianity still flourishes, at least in this part of India. Muslim and Hindu are the major players here, leaving me to wonder why Pakistan was ever created. Have to ask Ben Kingsley I guess.

Off to Mumbai for two days. I hope we have a similar Indian experience, but I’m not countind on it.

Joe Wagg

SINGAPORE

SINGAPORE   March 13/14, 2011

Civilized, motorized, amortized and homogenized, Singapore has it all. And it has it all with a classy façade which, perhaps, hides the really strict nature of their criminal laws and their real lack of democracy in the 21^st century.  Lovely to look at, delightful to know, a real cosmopolitan city.

Day one began with me trying to figure out how to send a text message on my international phone.  We have a friend here named Wui.  He was a shipmate on Amazing Adventure 6 (?) in March 2010.  We’ve kept in touch via facebook and when I let him know we would be in Singapore, he made sure he was available to see us and asked that we text him when we were ready to leave the ship.  Well, at least I was able to figure out how to call his cell phone.  Wui introduced us to the fantastic subway system of Singapore.  He had to attend his brother’s engagement party, so we went to Chinatown, an area of Singapore we hadn’t seen before.  We shopped for two hours, total purchases were $S15 for a beaded necklace.  Wui owns a bar on the riverfront, so we wandered the streets until 3 PM, having a lovely lunch on the riverfront until Wui opened his bar.  We spent some time with Wui, but it being St. Patrick’s weekend, it was really getting busy, so we found our way back to the ship.

After a well deserved rest and dinner in the Lido, we decided to go to the brand new Marina Bay Casino.  Set atop three skyscrapers and molded in the shape of a boat, the architecture really intrigued us more than the idea of going to a casino.  Well, the best laid plans, etc.  It took us 30 minutes to get through customs and immigration (required every time you leave the ship).  A day gambling ship, which just happened to be the old Song of Norway, had just let out and we were in the middle of a swarm of highrollers who, by their general demeanor, did not come home winners.  Finally getting to the street level we found the cab line with about 25 people in it and not a cab in sight.  At this point we decided to put the kybosh on our venture and just go veg out on the ship.  However, we did make one stop on the way back at a shop in the attached mall called “Massage Today”.  We each opted for a package called the Fish Spa.  Take off shoes and sox, wash feet in a ground level sink, roll up pants and sit around what could be described as a hot tub filled with ravenous little black fish.  Insert feet in said hot tub for 10 minutes and emerge with all the dead skin on your feet completely devoured by the denizens of the hot tub.  Oh that you could be here to run your fingers over my heels and feel the soft bottoms of my now tingling feet.  The evening saved by www.massagetoday.com.sg. 

Day two was a short one due to foolish Singapore immigration crap, so we basically wandered the new mall attached to the pier. Singapore prices appear to be somewhat lower than Hong Kong, with a lot of knockoff stuff including, seen here for the first time, Longchamp bags.  Many changes here since our last visit.  Will have to come back again.

SINGAPORE

PHU MY,VIETNAM

Phu My, Vietnam

Phu My is the name of a new container port that was built from fill in the Mekong Delta. This is where you take tours to Ho Chi Minh City or the beach area called Vungtau. We have been to Vietnam before in the mid 90’s and decided to just do the city transfer. It takes over 2 hours to get there, and we were on the bus from hell. The air conditioning worked poorly < temp. outside was 40 C, with oppressive humidity> and the bus driver had to stop because he had diarrhea.

Ho Chi Minh City or Saigon is a city of 7 million and difficult to navigate, as it is a city in transition. With the help of Chinese money, it is out with the old and in with the new. There are huge new apartment buildings and every high end store you can think off, all empty of shoppers, just like Shanghai.

What I will probably remember about this visit is the motor scooters. It makes Rome seen tame. To cross the very wide street you wait for a break in the traffic, step out, and walk in a slow deliberate pace and the traffic goes around you. Not for the faint of heart. We went  to an old beautifully restored hotel called the Majestic, on the Saigon River for a cold drink and a million dollar view. We also walked to the Ben Thanh market that has been there forever. By then the heat got to me and we headed back to our meeting place at the Rex hotel for lunch. This is the hotel the reporters used during the war. I would probably tell others to take one of the ship’s tour just for the comfort factor.

Update:

We have been told that there is a travel warning still in effect for Egypt so instead we will have an additional stop in Oman and then go on to Israel, This might revert back but I doubt it.

Gina Wagg

HONG KONG, SAR China Mar 7/8 2011

Modern skyscrapers backed by a towering mountain, anarchistic traffic patterns in the harbor, modern upscale shopping malls, ancient street markets, cars and people everywhere – this is Hong Kong today. There have been lots of changes since our last visit here just before the English handed over control to the Chinese, and they appear to have been positive ones.

We docked right next to the Star Ferry terminal in a cruise port that can only be described as transportation center meets shopping mall on steroids. The view out our stateroom window is of the Hong Kong skyline from Kowloon. A hotel room with this view would have to cost $600 a night. Getting out to the street from the ship takes at least twenty minutes of wandering through the shopping mall ( I guess that’s the idea). Marks & Spencer, Aquascutum, Burberry, Escada, Armani, etc. You get the picture. And the weird part is that all these stores are busy with customers! One good thing about the terminal was unlimited wi-fi for free.

We spent most of the first day shopping, buying nothing. Nathan Road is the main drag here having a very nice escape from the craziness of the city in an area called Kowloon Park. Set on a hill above the mayhem below, it offers a sometimes needed respite. We then walked forever to an area of town called Hung Hom in search of a guide book recommended dining establishment called Whampoa Gourmet Place. Well, we never found it even though we did find the Whampoa area. NOBODY spoke English and our Mandarin is non-existent. We had lunch with the locals in a small (16 seat) restaurant. Soup, a small salad and rice with chicken satay for two, one beer and one juice for around $10, tip included. The walk back to the ship took over an hour.

That evening we enjoyed the Hong Kong light and sound show from the ship looking across the harbor. Lasers from the tops of the skyscrapers and musically coordinated lights in each building display for 15 minutes. We could not hear the music which diminished the effect. All in all, I prefer Bellagio’s water show.

Day two we took the Star Ferry over to Hong Kong Island, walked to the bus terminal (poorly marked directions) and took a 45 minute bus ride to Stanley Market. The route passes homes of the rich and famous built into the sides of mountains overlooking bays and beaches. Stanley Market itself was one of the most civilized markets we’ve seen. One small street closed to traffic, maybe 50 yards long, with a small rabbit warren of alleys veering off to the left and right. We made some purchases and then sought out tranquility as a tour bus arrived with 40 or 50 ravenous cruise passengers descending upon the market. We stumbled upon a beachfront promenade lined with restaurants. While strolling the promenade, we happened upon a group of school children, maybe third graders. Their teacher asked us if we had a few minutes to be interviewed by the children who were learning English. How do you decline that invitation? The kids broke up into groups of 6 to eight, each having his/her own clipboard. In unison they asked questions from their list, recording the answers in listed categories on their paper. As an aside, these kids were dressed uniformly, bringing to mind the way our kids dress for school.

After a dissatisfying lunch at one of said restaurants (at three times the price of the local’s restaurant), we mosied over to the bus stop for the express bus home (no ferry). Now I know I shouldn’t say the following, but it is SO indicative of the passenger-type on this ship that it cannot go without mention. While waiting at the bus stop, one of our fellow passengers asked us, “ where were the bags for all our purchases?” He then proceeded to show us what he had purchased and dared us to guess how much he spent. He had four of those ubiquitous plastic bags, each filled with a very heavy woolen suit. The jacket was cut in the manner of a tuxedo with one button, the pants uncuffed and neither component lined. The one he showed us was a garish purple with a large green and orange embroidery on the back of the jacket. He admitted that none of his purchases would fit either he or his wife, but how could he pass up that value at $3.00 per suit?????? Oh my achin’ bacon! Keep in mind these have to fit in a suitcase to get home. I will make no more comments on my fellow travellers.

Joe Wagg

MANILA, PHILIPPINES 4/5 FEB 11
I’ve been looking at the past posts and find a pattern. My favorite part of each visit is the people who inhabit the area. No place could this be truer than Manila.

Why do we travel? I guess, initially, it’s a form of escape from the drudgery of everyday life, a chance to be somewhere warm when it’s cold at home or just a change from your dreary workplace. After a while, as you start to visit more and more destinations, it becomes a game of sorts to check off all the “places you’ve been”. Somewhere at home you’ve got the world map with pins in it or you’ve made your check off on Google places. Not only that, and this particularly applies to cruises, you have to visit every cathedral, museum or point of interest that your favorite guide book recommends.

I’ve progressed through all these stages and only over the last few years have come to see the light. The reason to visit places is to interact with the people and see what kind of life they lead. While it’s true that the majority of the people you interact with are in a service industry (shopkeeper, waiter, etc.), it is not difficult to observe how the rest of the folks are getting along.
No place epitomizes this more than Manila. We have a very good Filipina friend that Gina used to work with at Mass General. She invited us down to her parent’s home in New Jersey for a weekend. The whole family was the most hospitable, friendly, down to earth people we’ve ever met. What we’ve found from years on cruise ships is that they are not an anomaly. These people have an intangible quality not to be found anywhere else. Family comes first along with smiles. And, there are 240 of them working on this ship and visiting home the last two days. To get a job on a ship requires a college education, without regard to your occupation aboard. Our onboard friends tell us they do this work so their children can go to a better college or to private school. The time away from home allows them to live an upper middle class lifestyle, albeit without the father figure present. However, the grandfather figure is likely on the scene to make up for the father’s absence. And they are not all male.

Manila is best described as traffic clogged, air polluted, architecturally challenged with some of the worst living conditions you could imagine. We were originally scheduled for only one day here but when we were forced to skip Palau for nefarious reasons, the captain opted to head straight to Manila and spend two whole days here. This was real boon for the Filipinos onboard, some of whom got to sleep at home for the night. Keep in mind that these folks work ten month contracts with two months between contracts. To get to see your loved ones, even new children born since they left home, is an unbelievable bonus.

While in port the ship was opened up to family and the sounds of children laughing permeated the hallways. What a delight to see the wonder in the children’s eyes as they pondered a plate of hot dogs, French fries, cheeseburgers with an ice cream to follow. Of course sail away on the second day was a very emotional time, for both crew and passengers. Brass band playing on the dock as the ship wends its way into the harbor, relatives ashore talking on cell phones to their loved ones on board while waving. An experience I shall not forget.
As for Manila, on day one we took the free shuttle to the dropoff spot, which was a modern shopping mall. Free internet throughout the mall occupied our morning. A $2.00 cab ride took us to the Hotel Manila for lunch. Built in 1912, this classic hotel has aged well and is worth visiting just to look around. Day two was one of the tours we host for Vacation Vignettes. Visiting the old walled city, a couple of cathedrals and a lovely period home , Casa Manila, all went well although we all got soaked in a fairly heavy rain for some parts of the tour. We had 83 participants and received excellent feedback.

As we head to Hong Kong, the memories of the Filipino people remain strong. As we interact with those working on the ship, I won’t be able to get the image of them with their loved ones out of my mind. Others may go see the museums and cathedrals. Just leave me on a street corner watching life go by!

Joe Wagg