We were late going through Ha Long Bay because of the storm but that was good as this was very scenic and it would have been dark had we not had the storm. The limestone rock formations jutting up out of the water reminded me of the icebergs in the Antarctic. The Vietnamese have names for the formations based on their appearance and you can conjure up a lot of different images. The ancient myth is that a dragon was terrorizing the villagers and they drove him off but as he was leaving he swished his tail back and forth cutting paths through the limestone.

This area is in North Viet Nam and is not well developed except where the hotels are. I believe this electrical system tells it all. As in other third world countries you have the old mixed with the new. This lady carrying the fruit could hardly handle the weight and was having a hard time trying to keep the weight evenly distributed on her shoulders.

I really don’t have a lot of comment. I did sit by the beach for quite some time and had a beer which was pleasant. The tide was out but they have a very long pier that accommodates for the tides and thus we didn’t have to walk in the sand after we landed by tender.

I will be leaving the ship on Monday for my overland to the Terra Cotta Warriors and the Li River. Once I leave the ship in Hong Kong I will not post as I won’t have my computer with me for four days. I will do my wash on Saturday and iron and pack on Sunday. The only thing planned in Hong Kong is to do some necessary shopping at the terminal or if need be, the mall. This will be my last post until I get back unless something spectacular happens before Monday.

We are now in Viet Nam at the port city to access Saigon but I have opted not to go again. I was there on my last world cruise and I don’t relish the drive which took 3 ½ hours in traffic coming back to the ship. The closest other city is a 40 minute ride by taxi so I am not leaving the ship today. We do have another stop in Ha long Bay and I will go into the town at that port of call.

I was trying to get on the internet but it seems not to be working and I have some things I want to do so I am starting my next post hoping it will clear shortly. It is very different here on the ship with few people. This is the first time I have not left the ship during a port of call. I took this shot from the ship of the shore in Viet Nam. Can you imagine our troops trying to find the Viet Cong in these thick woods?

We did have a party for Mo one of the host dancers. He turned 70 today. Mo is a very interesting man. He was born in Egypt, an economist, and after retiring became a dance instructor and is now traveling the world as a dance host. The other hosts are James, Bart, Rob, Bob, and Tony. All very nice guys and a few of the ladies seem to be in love with one or the other but they seem to be very proper.

At the time I was typing this portion of the post we have encountered a storm with rain and some winds. We are moving quite a bit which is kind of nice since we haven’t even had one bad day since leaving the Antarctica.

We are still rocking and rolling and I just had cocktails and dinner hosted by our good looking Captain. The dinner was wonderful and our officer at the table was Mark Miranda who is the officer of security of the ship. Neat guy and is a Catholic Indian, with a wife and two children and I enjoyed his company. The other couple at our table were nice people but he never shut up. I am tired because of his incessant talking and I am now going to sleep.

Oh Cambodia! Such sights, sounds and smells. A country set back a couple of hundred years by that terrible Pol Phat who killed over two million Cambodians, mostly their doctors, engineers, architects, lawyers and business men leaving the poor and uneducated or under educated.. Devastating for this country and I believe it was in worse shape than Viet Nam.

First we went to a Bhudist Temple and we were able to see the reclining Bhuda and a good view of the landscape beyond. Note the funny tail-like things on top of the temple. Those are dragon tails. Second, we went to a beach and were treated to a very nice sandy beach and it appears they are trying to build up resort areas to bring in the tourist dollars. But, even seeing these sights it was the views along the way that sealed my impression of the country.

A man was steering a motor-scooter and behind him was a little boy in pajamas. Possibly his father was behind the boy holding an IV drip quite high as it was still attached to the boy. The next sight was of a Bhudist monk dressed in his “French’s Mustard” color clothes carrying an umbrella of the same color for shade from the sun. It was very hot. The monks must obtain enough alms before noon for their last meal of the day or else they can’t eat until 6:00 am the next morning. I was not able to get a photo of either sight since the bus was going too fast but even with out these photos I will never forget these images.

The next stop was the market place and it seemed to go on forever. Hot, humid and stuffed with goods and foods of every description. I was only looking for a keychain so I opted not to go into the bowels of this mammoth warehouse. As I was trying to make the shop girls understand what I was looking for a young man who spoke very good English translated for me and the girl ran off to find one. We as Westerners from our parts of the world forget how complicated our lives are what with locks and keys. The poor in the third world countries don’t have this problem so they are not readily able to understand the motions for opening a door with a key. Most of them have a gunny sack over their entryways.

This young man informed me he was studying English at the University and that he hoped one day he would be a tour guide. Not a lawyer, doctor, businessman or engineer, but a tour guide.

Our next stop was the local fishing village. Now, you must imagine a scene from the nineteenth century. Nothing different than it was then except for the occasional motor-scooter honking at us as they would drive out on the docks and a few plastic boxes and baskets. The fish smell was overpowering and in order to walk around you were stepping in fish remains. Despite this primitive lifestyle the people were smiling, friendly and seemed happy. Apparently the life expectancy in Cambodia is about 64 so when they saw one of the passengers named Margery (97 years of age) they wanted to touch her.

The first day we were in Singapore I had no tour and Joan and I had some things we had to do and some things we wanted to do, So about 9:30 am we started with a reasonable taxi ride to the Raffles Hotel which would put us within walking distance of most of the shopping malls. Most of you know this is my second trip to Singapore and I had already done the city tour, orchid gardens and high tea at Raffles. Anyway, the taxi cab ride cost us around $6.00 and all of our rides were very fair priced. These guys were honest taxi cab drivers and as such a rare breed.

We went to a mall walking about a mile and I found a place to have my hair cut. Priced right and I had one of the best hair cuts I have ever had. We then went back to Raffles to the Long Bar where I had my Singapore sling (at $35 US) which they don’t tell you ahead of time. I swear there was no alcohol in it and it was quite sweet. We ate lunch there and that was only $14.00.

While we were at lunch I spotted Dee and John. (I have called them Mr. and Mrs. Mustard since Fort Lauderdale because it was how I remembered their names----dee-john mustard.) They are a couple of my favorite people on board and she wanted to take our photo with John since we do help her out by dancing with him. She has some arthritis and can only dance the slow dances so he dances the faster ones with us. She took the photo. They met on a world cruise about 4 years ago and later married.

On the way back I was able to get a manicure at the large terminal and they did have a pool with these fish who nibble away at your feet to remove calluses. It sound interesting but with so many feet in one little pool I wouldn’t think it was very sanitary.

The next day I had an early tour to visit old China Town and we went to this temple where Bhudism is practiced on one side and Taoism is practiced on the other side. Since it is the year of the tiger there was a display of these rather comical tigers.

We were then on to a demonstration of the proper method of tea brewing and a short course on tea. I did learn one thing and that is there is only one tea plant and from that plant they make four types of tea. The tip of the stem makes white tea, rest of the stem is used for green tea, oolong tea is made from the leaf, and black tea is made from the whole plant and roasted.

Now it is pouring out there almost the whole time we were on tour so my nice hair do is now a soggy flat mess. I recall the last time I was in Singapore it was pouring and I remember we all had umbrellas except Mike and he was soaked to the skin.

Next stop was a community center and museum as this building was typical of the living quarters of the early Chinese settlers. Each family had one room, a communal kitchen and bathroom on each floor, one laundry for the whole building and usually some shop or business on the ground floor. Look at these steps and see the wear. It is a visual of the comings and goings in these living quarters.

After we came back I took a short nap and got ready for Shirley’s 90th birthday party. It was great, she looked fantastic and I took this photo of Melvin, Maurice, Peggy and Marcy as we were having a party just prior to our Pinnacle dinner.

After dinner it was time to do a little dancing and I proceeded to the Crows Nest. Normally, I go to the Ocean Bar but Joan is again suffering from a cough and is staying in her room and didn’t even go to Shirley’s party. She usually is at the Ocean Bar so I join her some times. It started our a bit quiet but soon there was a crowd and we danced until the band quit. We had a good time and Tony and Rob needed help so we recruited Hanibal to help them and he turned out to be a good sport and a pretty good dancer.

We are in Singapore now but I haven’t even had a chance to cover Malaysia. Hopefully in between adventures in Singapore I will find time to do this Malaysia post. The day we docked in Malaysia I woke up at 5:00 am after 5 hours sleep since I did close down the Crow’s Nest on St Patty;s Day. Too early and my tour didn’t leave until 8:30 am

My tour took us to Kuala Lumpur and what a city. It reminds me of Singapore except the buildings are even more magnificent. The twin towers did bring back memories of our own twin towers not in appearance but in the magnificence and the name. I couldn’t help think that the same attack could happen here as well as in New York City. But, this is a Muslim country but a very moderate one not like the Maldives.. Because of the moderation it could become subject to attack by the more radical of the Muslim movement.

The city is modern with little left of the old city, there is traffic, upscale stores but quaint vendors also. The people are lovely especially our guides who were Christian, the minority religion. Condominiums hold sway over single family homes and it seem most were built in the last 4 years. Very clean and orderly. I felt very safe here as I do when visiting Singapore. The reflexology sign is for my daughter, Dana. The whole block was devoted to reflexology and she is certified as such and practices this along with massage therapy.

Their form of government is interesting as it is similar to ours except it is a monarchy with a twist. There are six sultanates and they stagger their reign over the country. Every 5 years they rotate to becoming the head Sultan of the country. When I say they, the particular member of a Sultan family who is the current Sultan reigning over his sultanate, becomes the head sultan of the country for 5 years. I hope this is clear because it is a confusing system.

We had a wonderful sit down family style Chinese lunch and was almost as good as the Indian meal we had on our last tour. We then went to the leading pewter museum and for you beer drinkers, this tankard holds the Guinness book of records for holding the most beer. This flag pole is the largest free standing flag pole in the world.

After a fun sail away I ate a small salad up in the Lido and was in bed at 8:00 pm and slept straight through the night until 5:30 am. I am very fit now for my Singapore adventure which starts in less than one hour.

In my last post I said I was through with the subject of India.. WRONG! As we were just about to leave Goa and go back to the ship some of the ladies were bartering with the vendors . When the pashima scarves were being sold for $5.00 I bought one. It had a lovely lavender sheen to it. Well, I decided to wear it over a black silky pant outfit I have to the special Indian dinner. I didn’t like the smell and I like to wash my clothes after buying them and before wearing them. I washed it in cold water using Woolite soap and that lavender sheen I liked so much just washed away. I could have dyed my white shirt lavender what with all the dye in the sink. Fortunately, my $5.00 purchase was still wearable as it was now a wine colored paisley print.

The Indian dinner at the Pinnacle was quite nice and certainly the best of the South American, African and Indian dinners,

Ellen, Sue and Ellen threw a St. Patrick ‘s Day party and, of course, being the social butterfly that I am, I was invited, as was Larry Hagman and I thought you would like to see what he looks like at this stage of his life. Not the greatest photo of me but with Larry being in the photo who is looking at me. My friends Ellen (the short plump one), Ellen (alias the Russian Princess at the last mystery dinner) and Sue (Chop Chop Suey) with the funny hat. It was great fun.

Later that evening after dinner I danced the night away at the Crow’s Nest not just with the hosts but with Melvin, Maurice, Glenn and now even Lane is dancing and he is really a good dancer, We had a blast and I didn’t get to bed until midnight with an early morning call for a tour of Malaysia.

Two of my photos did not download probably because of the number. Anyway, these are the two that should have gone with the last post. I have no more new photos to post, only words.

Before I get into what has been happening on the ship I do want to complete India. First, I forgot to tell you about the red brick that I photographed and posted in the last post. This is really not brick but a stone that has been cut from its natural environs. They cut it out as it is very soft and porous filled with water. Then they dry it and when it becomes hard it is used as if they were bricks.

Second, taxi cab drivers. I want you to know it is true that one out of every two Indian babies born becomes a taxi cab driver. If there is no room for him to operate here they send him to New York. I am kidding of course to make a point that you have to imagine one in every 50 cars is not a taxi. I believe there are more taxis here than any place on earth.

Third, the hustlers. These people I admire greatly and I have an anecdotal story that says it all. After my tour, Joan and I caught a taxi to the Taj Mahal Hotel where there is a shopping area. As we were walking there and were saying no to all the street venders a young lady presented herself as our savior keeping the venders and beggars away, keeping us safe as we crossed the street and leading us to the best shops. And, guess what, when we emerged from the shops she was still there waiting for us. I finally gave her a tip and thought we would lose her. No such luck. Store after store she was waiting patiently. Finally, we stopped at Leopolds for a beer and as we emerged she was gone and we uttered a sigh of relief as you must understand that we didn’t know how much she was going to demand for these unwanted “services”. After all, between Joan and myself we do have about 140 years of experience and are perfectly capable of crossing a street. Anyway, as we were walking she spots us and showed us her “baby” and began escorting us again while carrying her “baby”. She finally hailed us a taxi (as if there weren’t enough to go around) and we paid her another tip. She made about $10 for an hour and a half which is very good wages for working for someone who didn’t want the services. Joan and I are convinced that her “baby” was borrowed to gain more sympathy for more money. You must give her credit for “working” to get the handout rather than begging.

Which brings me to the next and last India topic---beggars. This is a serious problem and the government is starting to crack down on the true abusers. I believe anyone seen giving them a handout should be jailed for 24 hours just to remind them of what havoc they are wreaking on the children. In order to engender the sympathy of tourists and others some parents will maim their children to gain deeper sympathy which in turn makes them more money. They will blind their babies or break their bones. These are a minority but it is within the beggar community and part of the lifestyle.

Not a lot has been happening on ship so I will cover that in my next post as I wanted to close the chapter on India. Mom’s birthday party will be coming up and Kate, she is just as sassy as ever. I will close this post as Maurice just came in to the Exploration Café and I wanted to show him a couple of photos.

We left Bombay and were on our way to Goa when we decided to join Shirley for dinner since her table mates were off to the Taj Mahal on an overland tour. The new comer to the gang is Joe. Everyone knew him from past trips and he was one of the late discoveries. An early seating diner and you can miss them completely.

Before I leave Bombay I must note that my adorable cat is a Bombay. They were bred to have black patent leather like fur and to walk and look like a black panther. She is all black except for her eyes, tongue and teeth.

Goa is the smallest state in India but produces the most revenues of all the states. Tourism is the largest source of income and we did stop at a wonderful resort hotel for lunch. I got my beer and had one of the most fabulous luncheon buffets I have ever had. Food was marvelous with subtle flavors not the heavy curried dishes which I do not care for at all.

The scenery is much greener in this state but the roads could use some improvements. Our bus needed a lot of improvement. The shocks were shot or maybe it didn’t have any. A very bumpy ride but the air conditioned worked and that was very important.

We visited a Hindu village and mot of the photos show life as it is there. A couple of cuties caught my attention and they so love to have their photos taken.

The smaller church is the Basilica of Bom Jesus which dates from 1695 and the interior is gorgeous with inlays of valuable rare gems and stones. We also went to the largest cathedral in Asia called Se Cathedral and then to Church of St. Cajetan (not pictured), modeled on St. Peters in Rome.

We continued to Panjim to the local market but I liked the other market in Bombay. This one was too clean and organized so it lacked the character found in the other market. This was the end of my adventure to India at least for the present. So much more to see.

This is not the last post about India because I need to cover beggars, hustlers and taxi drivers.

The second day in Bombay was just as exciting and I might add, just as hot and humid. I hadn’t mentioned the heat and humidity before but both days were incredibly hot so thank heaven for air conditioned buses.

We started our tour with a trip to an old Portuguese neighborhood and this was also a Catholic neighborhood as would be expected. I took a photo of a typical house and as you can see the houses are well maintained even though some are 200 or more years of age.

Our next stop was the temple of Banganga which is one of the oldest structure in the city. Part of this complex is a water “tank” which is believed to have healing powers. Some famous historical figure threw his sword into the soil and out flowed a stream of water from a spring, so this is why it is considered magical. Our guide does need to go back to math class as he told us there were just a few steps then changed his mind and said there were 20 steps. Well, there were more like 60 to 100 steps and we did have one lady faint but luckily she fainted after boarding the bus and was ok after some cold compresses.

We also stopped at a local market (like our super stores) that sold everything from pets, herbs, fruits, vegetables and sundry items including toupees, I got Grady to stand by this stall and I think you can guess why.

On the way back to the ship we stopped to get a better photo of the Victoria Station which is quite famous. I heard two estimates of how many people use the station every day---three hundred thousand to one million.

The other photos are just scenes that are typical and I could have shot the same photos many times in many locations. One note of interest to me was that the slums are not really slums as we know them. The government rent space, provide toilet facilities, electricity and water. Some of these shacks have television antennae or satellite dishes, and some have water tanks on top of their roofs. They have their own community government and though many can afford to live elsewhere they choose to live where they have always lived.

Patty asked the question of how I have time to write on my blog with everything else to do on the ship. The one thing that has suffered is my reading. I have not read nearly as many books. Probably half of what I normally would read. The other thing is that I don’t compose. I break every rule of creative writing----I talk to you as if you were here. All in my usual style with stories thrown in so it goes very fast.