Good Morning Vietnam...
As I sit here in Kuala Lumpur I reflect on the adventures in my last 3 ports. Yes there are good things and bad things about cruising to such lovely and vibrant places as Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. A good thing is that you get to go in and experience what you can with new cultures and fascinating sights, and the bad thing is you just get a taste of some of the beautiful ports like today. Anyway, we just came from some fascinating places where we were close or had access to a city without worrying about being back on too much of a time constraint.
Nha Trang, Vietnam was our first stop after Hong Kong. It was sketchy weather, but that's expected in this tropical area. We took the shuttle to the main area of hotels and beaches and immediately pestering locals approached us. Hoards of them came wanting us to get into a taxi to see places and buy their postcards. They followed us for a good block or two and stuck to us like glue. It was unbelievable and I think worse than the locals were in Indonesia. They seemed just starved for us to buy SOMETHING from them. We finally settled on a taxi and got out of there. It was great.
We had a fabulous driver who weaved us in and out of scooter traffic. Yes, L.A. has car traffic and lots of it, but imagine L.A. being populated by scooters instead of cars and that is what Vietnam becomes for traffic. If L.A. drivers had scooters, they would be racing in and around traffic just like the Vietnamese people were that day. Cars were intrusive and clunkier so it was definitely an experience to pull into the streets. Our first stop was a temple that was high on a hill. It was fascinating and it reminded me of Indiana Jones. I had the theme rumbling through my head the whole time. It was HOT!!! Whoa! Talk about tropics. Whew. 
From the hilltop we were able to see the fishing village below and the countryside. It was beautiful. In the distance you could see the very large Buddha on another hilltop. That was our next stop. We went over to the Buddha temple where we saw 2 of them. One perched on the hilltop, very large, and all carved out of porcelain. The other was a sleeping Buddha about midway up. It was a school as well as a place of worship and the kids being educated there led us through all the way to the sleeping Buddha. 
I was just amazed when I got to the one at the top. It was so large and eerily perched on a pedestal against the blue sky. It just seemed to float there and the clouds that rolled through would make it disappear in the foreground because it was white. We headed back to the ship after all this touring in the heat for a good lunch. It wasn't the most developed town, so we didn't want to chance eating the local fare. I had the strangest experience riding around town all day. This city was just as underdeveloped as all the war movie depictions of the Vietnam War. We would be driving down the street and I could see buildings that I remember seeing get blown up in the movies. It was an eerie feeling.
Phu My, Vietnam was our next stop. We docked there unexpectedly since we were supposed to tender into Vung Tau (formerly Saigon). A shuttle took us into Vung Tau about 50 minutes away. You could also take a taxi ride to Ho Chi Minh City also 50 minutes away from port. We chose to go into Vung Tau. It was a nice and relaxing day. Since we were in the city formerly known as Saigon, I couldn't get the songs out of my head from the musical Miss Saigon. It was crazy being there knowing all that had happened in the past. This town though, unlike Nha Trang, was more developed and looked like a vacation resort. The beaches were clean. There were carved hedges in various spots, and it just had a cleaner look. Shopping was a bargain here. One of my friends bought some snake wine after I told her I saw it yesterday. It was a bottle of yellow liquid with a cobra snake inside holding a scorpion inside its mouth. Who would drink this? Whoa. It must be strong. Like formaldehyde maybe. Yuck. We walked around and just enjoyed the day before getting back on the shuttle bus again.
Singapore was amazing and hardly like I remember it. Come to think of it, all I can remember of Singapore was the fact that I went to the zoo in the morning to have breakfast and got my picture taken with an orangutan. We docked in this bustling city paying homage to the lion head and the creatures of the sea. They combined the two symbols to create the Merlion.
There was a large statue erected on the resort island of Sentosa across the bay. It was much like Disneyland coming into port. We docked right on a huge mall in the bay that was connected to a monorail that went into Sentosa. Flying directly over our ship were cable cars going to the mountaintop from Sentosa. On the resort island was a huge space needle jutting up to catch panoramic views and flags donning the coastline where a hotel was perched. The cars drove under a castle-like entrance that greeted them with the island's name right across the top. I went there first and it felt like I was in a small amusement park or one that was just in its developmental stages. It was beautiful and manicured though. I took the cable car over the ship, through the skyscrapers, and into Mt. Faber. This gave me dazzling views of the large city below. 
I loved the peace and serenity up there. I wasn't even supposed to go off today, but there were a few of our cast members quarantined for the ship virus that's going around. Once that was all sorted out, I just took the day off. I didn't get to leave the ship until 1:00pm or so and the group left early that morning, so I had the day to myself to explore. Sometimes I need that once and a while anyway. Once I had my fill of the beauty of Mt. Faber, I took the cable car back to Sentosa where I explored the island a bit more. I went inside the Merlion statue and up on top of its head to get a perspective of the island. It was fascinating. Before I went up though I got a Disneyesque presentation/movie of the different creatures of the deep and how Singapore came to be from the prince who discovered its beauty. After leaving the resort town, I took the tram back to the HUGE mall and was overwhelmed by all the shopping. 
I didn't make it into the city because I was captivated by this vast shopping mall. Things were a little too pricey for me, so I explored a little, got my Starbucks, and headed back to the ship. I had a fabulous day out in Singapore and an unexpected day of exploration. Too bad it was at someone else's expense. I guess that makes up for today now being stuck in some random farmland called Port Kelang in Kuala Lumpur. I do get to go out in the city though this afternoon, just not as long as expected.
Nha Trang, Vietnam was our first stop after Hong Kong. It was sketchy weather, but that's expected in this tropical area. We took the shuttle to the main area of hotels and beaches and immediately pestering locals approached us. Hoards of them came wanting us to get into a taxi to see places and buy their postcards. They followed us for a good block or two and stuck to us like glue. It was unbelievable and I think worse than the locals were in Indonesia. They seemed just starved for us to buy SOMETHING from them. We finally settled on a taxi and got out of there. It was great.
We had a fabulous driver who weaved us in and out of scooter traffic. Yes, L.A. has car traffic and lots of it, but imagine L.A. being populated by scooters instead of cars and that is what Vietnam becomes for traffic. If L.A. drivers had scooters, they would be racing in and around traffic just like the Vietnamese people were that day. Cars were intrusive and clunkier so it was definitely an experience to pull into the streets. Our first stop was a temple that was high on a hill. It was fascinating and it reminded me of Indiana Jones. I had the theme rumbling through my head the whole time. It was HOT!!! Whoa! Talk about tropics. Whew. 
From the hilltop we were able to see the fishing village below and the countryside. It was beautiful. In the distance you could see the very large Buddha on another hilltop. That was our next stop. We went over to the Buddha temple where we saw 2 of them. One perched on the hilltop, very large, and all carved out of porcelain. The other was a sleeping Buddha about midway up. It was a school as well as a place of worship and the kids being educated there led us through all the way to the sleeping Buddha. 
I was just amazed when I got to the one at the top. It was so large and eerily perched on a pedestal against the blue sky. It just seemed to float there and the clouds that rolled through would make it disappear in the foreground because it was white. We headed back to the ship after all this touring in the heat for a good lunch. It wasn't the most developed town, so we didn't want to chance eating the local fare. I had the strangest experience riding around town all day. This city was just as underdeveloped as all the war movie depictions of the Vietnam War. We would be driving down the street and I could see buildings that I remember seeing get blown up in the movies. It was an eerie feeling.Phu My, Vietnam was our next stop. We docked there unexpectedly since we were supposed to tender into Vung Tau (formerly Saigon). A shuttle took us into Vung Tau about 50 minutes away. You could also take a taxi ride to Ho Chi Minh City also 50 minutes away from port. We chose to go into Vung Tau. It was a nice and relaxing day. Since we were in the city formerly known as Saigon, I couldn't get the songs out of my head from the musical Miss Saigon. It was crazy being there knowing all that had happened in the past. This town though, unlike Nha Trang, was more developed and looked like a vacation resort. The beaches were clean. There were carved hedges in various spots, and it just had a cleaner look. Shopping was a bargain here. One of my friends bought some snake wine after I told her I saw it yesterday. It was a bottle of yellow liquid with a cobra snake inside holding a scorpion inside its mouth. Who would drink this? Whoa. It must be strong. Like formaldehyde maybe. Yuck. We walked around and just enjoyed the day before getting back on the shuttle bus again.
Singapore was amazing and hardly like I remember it. Come to think of it, all I can remember of Singapore was the fact that I went to the zoo in the morning to have breakfast and got my picture taken with an orangutan. We docked in this bustling city paying homage to the lion head and the creatures of the sea. They combined the two symbols to create the Merlion.
There was a large statue erected on the resort island of Sentosa across the bay. It was much like Disneyland coming into port. We docked right on a huge mall in the bay that was connected to a monorail that went into Sentosa. Flying directly over our ship were cable cars going to the mountaintop from Sentosa. On the resort island was a huge space needle jutting up to catch panoramic views and flags donning the coastline where a hotel was perched. The cars drove under a castle-like entrance that greeted them with the island's name right across the top. I went there first and it felt like I was in a small amusement park or one that was just in its developmental stages. It was beautiful and manicured though. I took the cable car over the ship, through the skyscrapers, and into Mt. Faber. This gave me dazzling views of the large city below. 
I loved the peace and serenity up there. I wasn't even supposed to go off today, but there were a few of our cast members quarantined for the ship virus that's going around. Once that was all sorted out, I just took the day off. I didn't get to leave the ship until 1:00pm or so and the group left early that morning, so I had the day to myself to explore. Sometimes I need that once and a while anyway. Once I had my fill of the beauty of Mt. Faber, I took the cable car back to Sentosa where I explored the island a bit more. I went inside the Merlion statue and up on top of its head to get a perspective of the island. It was fascinating. Before I went up though I got a Disneyesque presentation/movie of the different creatures of the deep and how Singapore came to be from the prince who discovered its beauty. After leaving the resort town, I took the tram back to the HUGE mall and was overwhelmed by all the shopping. 
I didn't make it into the city because I was captivated by this vast shopping mall. Things were a little too pricey for me, so I explored a little, got my Starbucks, and headed back to the ship. I had a fabulous day out in Singapore and an unexpected day of exploration. Too bad it was at someone else's expense. I guess that makes up for today now being stuck in some random farmland called Port Kelang in Kuala Lumpur. I do get to go out in the city though this afternoon, just not as long as expected.
posted by Chris | 6:54 AM
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