For those who know Dean and me, it would be no surprise to learn that we have befriended the charming onboard head sommelier. He is Oleksandr from Ukraine, but better known as Sasha to all. Among the many onboard activities offered to amuse us, for varying fees we can partake in occasional wine tastings that…
Continue reading →A full 12-hour excursion took me on a 110-mile inland bus ride each way to the capital of Vietnam, winding through the countryside and small towns up the Red River to the city of pagodas and palaces, presidents and prisons. Welcome to Hanoi. Our tour guide and host Kha, born in 1977, spoke candidly about…
Continue reading →I must go back for a moment to Southern Vietnam, and return to an experience I needed some time to synthesize before I share my thoughts. While in Saigon, we took a day trip about 30 miles northwest of the city to the district of Cu Chi where, from 1967, it served as base for…
Continue reading →Off the coast of northern Vietnam in the Gulf of Tonkin, lies the hauntingly beautiful Halong Bay. It features thousands of limestone karsts and isles in various sizes and shapes that jut upward from the sea. The core of this area has a high density of about 775 islets and the limestone in the bay…
Continue reading →Asians seem to be more mindful of meditation and tranquility to enrich the mind and body, whether in the quiet calm of their temples and pagodas, the purposeful serenity of their gardens, or the common public morning practice of the ancient art of Tai Chi.
Continue reading →The blog has been moving in slow motion lately because of the painfully sluggish internet service onboard. As a result, I am at least nine days and several ports behind. As soon as we get a string of days at sea, I’ll try to catch up. We did take a little time to celebrate our…
Continue reading →I looked forward to Vietnam with curiosity and admittedly, some apprehension. I came of age during the Vietnam War and clearly remember watching TV on July 1, 1970 as numbers were drawn for those born in 1951, to see if my brother would be called to the draft. After my visit to the country, I…
Continue reading →There is a lot of geography I’m learning about, like something called the Bight of Bangkok, also known as the Bay of Bangkok. Never heard of it before. It is the northernmost part of the Gulf of Thailand into which the three major rivers of central Thailand empty their waters; the Bang Pa Kong, the…
Continue reading →Compared to the rest of ancient and historic Cambodia, Sihanoukville is a brand new town. Named after Norodam Sihanouk, under whose leadership Cambodia became an independent kingdom in 1953, this is a modest-sized city on the west coast of the country, halfway between Thailand and Vietnam. Our brief visit took us to the local market…
Continue reading →The tsunami tragedy is still fresh in the minds and hearts of the people of Thailand, where the popular resort island of Phuket was practically obliterated because of it. Nestled in the protection of the Gulf of Thailand, the sleepy island of Koh Samui survived unscathed. It is the second largest island of Thailand after…
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