DAY21 & DAY 22


After a lecture on the Seychelles we can not wait to get there. These islands are supposed to have the most beautiful beaches in the world. Along with the beaches there are magnificent rock formations and coral reefs galore. Captain Dag(the tall one) was back in the pool for another volleyball game. I guess “others” are watching for pirates! We had some ceremony tonight to initiate all those who have never crossed the equator. I didn’t really get it. After dinner we attended the ” Songs of the 70’s” with the Regent singers and dancers; it was great!…..Our second sea day is giving us time to re-organize our room. It is rather messy after 21 days. I enjoyed a long walk listening to “Ragtime” and seeing nothing but the Indian Ocean. We have not even seen another ship for two days. The sunrises and sunsets have been incredible.  This sunset shot is out the Observation Lounge window so isn't the clearest.

Day 20


We went on the tenders into Male. It is the largest island in the Maldives and capital of the more than 1.000 islands. Male is very Muslim; in fact, no other religion is allowed to be practiced. There is a stone wall surrounding the island and there are no beaches. To get to the beaches on the other islands you take a speed boat which we did with our friends. We went to a resort and relaxed on the beautiful beach and snorkeled in the turquoise blue waters. Many of these tropical atolls have been transformed into luxury resorts and are visited by people from all over the world. Jumbo jets land in Male and boats go to the islands. The resort we visited had the thatched huts going into the water. I saw yellow striped fish and bright blue fish. The water was turquoise blue. What a paradise! We watched Male leave our sights from the Observation Lounge in the front of the ship.

DAY 19


Today is Palm Sunday. Father Kelly is unsure if the palms ever got on the ship. We shall see as we are going to Mass now……Yes, the palms did arrive. We had a big crowd at church today. Father Kelly says a Mass for the crew at 11:30 P.M. each Sunday because everyone is through working by this time. We attended a lecture on the modern day pirates which was very timely. Another day at the pool with our books and our friends was most enjoyable. The entertainment tonight was big band music by the Regent band.; it was good.

DAY 18


It has been another lazy day at sea after our morning walk. I did visit the spa this morning for “personal maintenance.” John went to a lecture on spies. We hung out at the pool with friends reading our books and watching Captain Dag play pool volleyball. We are smack in the middle of the Indian Ocean, To our amazement there is a small bird by our pool, obviously a stowaway. Captain Dag hosted a pre-dinner formal party. He spoke to us about the pirate area we will enter. He said we will have “visitors” (added security) coming aboard for that part of the trip but not to worry about the pirates. We won’t. Our friends from San Antonio joined us for dinner

DAY 16


We docked in Penang at 9AM. The ride into the port was beautiful because Penang is an island with lovely beaches, tall mountains and very blue water. There are numerous 5 star hotels and huge high rises where many people come to vacation or have a second home because the cost of living is cheap. We were amazed at the luxury of the island.

Our tour today was to a butterfly farm. We walked among the butterflies and got some great pictures. The national butterfly of Penang is the Rajah Brooke’s Birdwing. It is black with green spikes.

We stopped at a spice garden and, much to our surprise, we saw 5 wild monkeys jumping from tree to tree.

We had dinner with our friends from San Antonio and Father Kelly, the priest on board. The guitarist we like put on his own show so we stayed up and enjoyed it. We met a dancer on our tour today. He is on the ship for 10 months. He said he had the perfect job--he can dance and see the world!

DAY 15--KUALA LUMPUR


Our 7 hour tour today was to show us the main attractions of Kuala Lumpur. Our guide told us that the country is divided into 14 parts, each governed by a sultan. Every five years they all meet and elect a King. Kuala Lumpur(or K L, as it is called) is a constitutional monarchy and gained its independence from Great Britain in 1957. There can never be a Queen here because the crown passes to the son or another male relative. Sixty per-cent of the country is Muslim. Our guide says all religions exist peacefully together. I hope that is true. The Muslim women usually wear the head scarves or the full burka. I think the black burkas are for the strict Muslims. The others wear pretty colored burkas and high heeled designer shoes. They, also, carry designer bags. Go figure.

Kuala Lumpur is prosperous with many high rises and huge shopping malls as nice as any we have in the U.S. You can see the British influence. The buildings and open spaces have a colonial feel to them. Unemployment is only 3% in K.L.

We visited the Blue Mosque; it is huge and can hold 25,000 people. Its 470-foot minerets are the tallest in the world. We saw the King’s Palace, the National Museum and saw the National War Memorial which honors all the fallen from 3 wars, The sculptor who did this memorial is the same man who did the Marine Memorial in Washington D.C. After a buffet lunch at one of many gorgeous hotels here, we visited a marketplace where goods were plentiful and begging to be bought!

Many global companies are here. They like the work force because English is the main language. From what we see, Malaysia is very prosperous. We sail at 8 for Penang.

P.S. The national flower is the hibiscus. The lamp poles have metal red hibiscus wound around them--very pretty!

P.P.S. This is for our kids: Dad and I ordered a pizza for dinner. We put on our I-Pod(Thank you, Patrick, for all the songs you recorded for us) and we danced on our balcony and watched the ship leave K.L. The sunset was beautiful and the stars were bright. It was another memorable night.

LAZY SEA DAYS

DAY 13--AT SEA


We enjoyed another morning walk on the deck 12 track. There are paddle tennis and shuffleboard courts up there too. I took a step class and then we attended a lecture on Malaysia, our next stop. The rest of the day was spent reading and relaxing. We ate dinner at the fancy restaurant, Signatures, with David and Maureen, our new friends from Newport Beach.

I have added a lot of pictures on my Bangkok blogs. I do it at 6AM. I, also, do the laundry at this hour but even then the machines can be full.



DAY 14--AT SEA

We sailed around the tip of Singapore and entered the Strait of Malacca which we will continue to follow until we reach Kuala Lumpur tomorrow morning. There have been lots of ships to look at and islands to see. John and I read by the pool and watched a rain storm come and go. We attend 5 o’clock Mass with a nice group. One person we met there, named Lloyd, turned 100 years old on this trip. He manages by himself with a walker. Our dinner tonight was with two couples we have met. One couple is from New York and the other from Ireland. We ate at the Prime 7 steakhouse and it was enjoyed by all.

MORE BANGKOK

DAY12 -BANGKOK, part 2


We traveled by bus and then “long boat” to the Floating Market. Here goods are sold out of boats and along the klong. It is a very colorful sight and bargains can be had if one is a good bargainer.   We visited a temple with beautiful golden Buddha statues on the way home.  It was interesting to watch people offer their food and flowers and to put gold paper on the Buddahs.When we returned from Bangkok the entire crew of 400 plus was in full dress and lined up to greet us. The Regent band played and there were signs saying “Welcome Back!” It was quite a sight. John and I fell asleep on our lounge chairs on the deck looking up at the stars.

REVISITING BANGKOK

DAY 11--BANGKOK

We left the port and rode a bus for two hours into Bangkok.  The "red shirts" were protesting but we only saw them in the distancce.  The city did business as usual.  We arrrived at the beautiful Shangri-la Hotel.  Our room on the 13th (didn't think hotels had 13th floors!) floor was exquisite.  There was a huge window seat that overlooked the Chao Phyra River so we could watch all the river traffic.  Our former maid, Wen Pen, came with her son to see us.  We had a nice Thai lunch together and I gave her a photo book of our days in Bangkok with her.  She loved the book.  Then John and I took a "long boat" ride.  We went down the river and then into the klongs where many Thais still live on the river.  We have always loved taking this ride.  We met our friend Khu-nhu for dinner.First, we went to the Oriental Hotel and had a drink by the river.  John and I love this spot. Khu- nuh has changed her name to Tanya and  always has new ideas for projects.  She is a journalist and very good at it.  She once gave me a book on Thai Puppets which she wrote.  I, also, gave her a photo book as we taught school together here.  She couldn't believe we were ever that young!  P.S.  I will be adding more pictures early in the morning.  It is taking too long to upload them now.

Today is a day for walking, exercise class, a lecture on Thailand and relaxing. It is a good day, too, to post a few extra pictures of Saigon. Women wear masks to protect themselves from pollution and the sun. They wear gloves to keep their hands white because white skin is preferred by men. The number of scooters and bikes on the road can not be exaggerated so here are a few pictures that give the idea. At the pool today, one of the pool staff sprayed water on the legs of those who wanted it. We, also, are given cold towels quite often and, of course, anything we want to eat or drink.

DAY 9--MORE SAIGON

The river picture was taken from the observation deck as we left Saigon on the Mekong River.  It was a peaceful ride to the China Sea.  The other pictures were from our  night before outing Today John and I relaxed by the pool but we did go

 to a show because we were awake at 9:30 p.m.

A DAY AND NIGHT IN SAIGON

DAY 8--SAIGON
We walked at 6AM, our usual time, and watched the sun rise as we journeyed up the Mekong River. The pilot boat had to guide us part of the way. It took about 2 hours to go up river from the China Sea to Saigon. We saw boats of every kind; it was a beautiful sight. Our tour today was “Highlights of Saigon.” We were on Bus 4 so all day our excellent guide called out “Number 4” and we fell in behind him.

Here were the highlights:

--The President’s Palace, now called the Unification Palace. We saw the bunkers underneath where the

South Vietnamese conducted the War.

--The former U.S. Embassy where the famous picture of the helicopter pulling people to safety was taken.

--The Saigon Museum with impressive ancient sculpture.

--The water puppet show set to music.

--Another pedi-cab ride but more treacherous than the one in Nha Trang

--A trip to a lacquer factory with gorgeous things but I resisted.

--A photo op at Notre Dame Cathedral built by the French.

--A walk through the Chinese Market. There were more goods together than we have ever seen and the

market went forever.

Our guide was a baby during the Vietnam War. He said that his father was an officer in the South Vietnamese Navy. After the war he was sent to a re-education camp for 2 years to become a communist!

Trivia Fact: Vietnam is the second largest exporter of rice and coffee.

Our day ended with “An Evening in Saigon..” We watched a Vietnamese dancing show on a hotel rooftop overlooking the city and then had a delicious Vietnamese meal at a nearby restaurant.

A DAY IN NHA TRANG

DAY 7--NHA TRANG

We did our usual walk on the track and fruit for breakfast routine. A couple we sat with said they do the same but then they shower and go for their real breakfast. We don’t. We had a pedi-cab ride through Nha Trang today. We were given recorders to hear the guide’s comments but they never worked. It didn’t matter. The beaches of Nha Trang are beautiful with azure blue water. The weird thing is that no one was swimming even though it was a hot day. Nha Trang was where our troops came for R & R. We bought a few small pictures in a local market but every stall sold the same thing. Food is very plentiful throughout Vietnam.

At night we had a “hall party.” The staff served wine and cheese in the hallls so we could meet our neighbors. It was a jolly and varied group. Next door to us is a couple from Ireland. He is a retired thoracic surgeon.who has to be pushed by his wife to exercise!

DAY 6--AT SEA


We walked the track in very windy conditions but we didn’t get blown away. The rest of the day was spent sunning and reading. We went to the fancy restaurant with the couple whose blog we had followed. They are on the world cruise. Then we heard a terrific singer who was once a Miss America runner-up. The nightly entertainment is top notch. We met a couple who is taking their 46th cruise! John had two lounge chairs delivered to our deck so we can sit or lie down and watch the ocean. Pretty nice!

DAY 5--HANOI


Our bus ride to Hanoi took 3 ½ hours but we stopped once for the “happy room.” as our North Vietnam guide called it. Also, at this rest stop was a gigantic store with many things to buy. Young people sat at tables doing intricate embroidery. Looking out the window at the countryside and small towns was fascinating. Most of the land is used for growing rice. Every rice paddy had bent over workers in their coolie(sp?) hats pulling weeds, fertilizing and tending the crop. The fields are bright green. In the small towns I saw no evidence of any trash cans or recycling. Trash disposal is wherever you want to throw it. Where is Al Gore? Each town had many small stores selling mostly the same things--food, drinks, plastic items and t-shirts. The peopls sit in front of their stores on plastic chairs talking and passing the baby around. Babies are held at all times because the road comes right up to the stores--no sidewalks. The generations live together in tall, skinny houses. The store is on the ground floor, the grandparents have the next level and when the children marry a floor is built for them. The houses have a Chinese look to them and are brightly painted but only in the front. The sides are grey concrete. Some are quite ritzy; others are not.

When we arrived in Hanoi motor scooters flooded the roads. There were some fancy cars on the road but mostly work trucks, buses, bikes and scooters, scooters, scooters. We went to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum but didn’t go inside. The line to get in was at least ten blocks long. Ho Chi Minh is revered by the North Vietnamese just as Lincoln is for us. Our guide really gave a pep talk to us about their ”great” former leader. Our visit to the Hanoi Hilton, on the other hand, left him rather speechless. The part of the prison where John McCann and our other POW’s were held was left for last. First we had to see other parts of the prison which we didn’t care about. When we finally got to the section with artifacts of the pilots --guess what?--the guide said there was no time and he hurried everyone back to the bus. We did see a few pictures of our pilots decorating a Christmas tree and as the text said “enjoying themselves and reading letters from home. There was McCain”s flight suit on display, the bed he slept in(springs and a grass mat on top) and a look inside a cell. The explanations of the war were anti-American(shocker!). All on our buses were insulted and felt the trip to Hanoi was not worth it except for the look at the interesting countryside.