Random thoughts from the sea
Day 38, Grand Asia 2017 Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2017 – Singapore While each of the great cities we have visited so far has its own must-see sights, I try to discover the feel and flavor of each port as much as possible during our short visits. I think of a
Continue readingDay 37, Grand Asia 2017 Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2017 – Singapore Tokyo. Beijing. Shanghai. Hong Kong. We’ve docked overnight in these great cities, and today we added Singapore to the list. Each city has its must-see tourist attractions. I hit four of those here tonight with an evening tour –
Continue readingDay 36, Grand Asia 2017 Monday, Nov. 6, 2017 – At Sea Most of us on the Amsterdam’s Grand Asia cruise are on for the entire 80 days, starting and ending in San Diego. Holland America realizes that not everyone wants such a long voyage. Some people don’t have
Continue readingDay 35, Grand Asia 2017 Sunday, Nov. 5, 2017 – Phu My/Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam When I watch cable news commentary on the MS Amsterdam, I have a choice of two very different views of American politics. Switching between MSNBC and Fox News, I sometimes can’t believe that they
Continue readingDay 34, Grand Asia 2017 Saturday, Nov. 4, 2017 – At Sea It’s no surprise that the vast majority of the people taking a long cruise are retired. Not many people can take that much time off work. I would hazard a guess that the average age on this cruise
Continue readingDay 33, Grand Asia 2017 Friday, Nov. 3, 2017 – At Sea Today we sailed south through the South China Sea rather than southwest toward Vietnam. Typhoon Damrey separates us from Nha Trang, the first of two scheduled Vietnam ports, and one that we will miss by taking a circuitous
Continue readingDay 32, Grand Asia 2017 Thursday, Nov. 2, 2017 – Hong Kong Today we returned to the warmth. The morning temperature was in the 70s, with a noticeable touch of humidity. At breakfast, I overheard a woman at the next table excusing herself to change clothes, because “I am wearing
Continue readingDay 31, Grand Asia 2017 Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2017 –Xi’an, China I didn’t know there was anything in Xi’an other than the terracotta warriors. Boy was I wrong. The warriors aren’t even in town, but almost an hour away. The “town” has 8 million people. One million of them are
Continue readingDay 30, Grand Asia 2017 Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2017 – Xi’an, China You can look at one or even a dozen terracotta warriors and be impressed. But the real impression comes from looking at a thousand of them. When I saw a small traveling exhibit in Chicago in 2016, I
Continue readingDay 29, Grand Asia 2017 Monday, Oct. 30, 2017 – Guilin, China There are some landscapes that are unlike anything I have ever seen before, and today I cruised down the Li River through just such an area. Towering spires of limestone surrounded us as we passed through on a
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