Mumbai, India

It was like coming home for the day to a large proportion of the staff on board Arcadia today. Our table waiter, Girish was meeting up with family and our cabin steward, Antonio who comes from Goa met up with his wife and children who had travelled from Goa to see him for a single day, the first time in 6 months. Jennifer, a girl who works on reception was meeting with her sister, and gave us so much useful advice about things to do. It's not her job to do that, but she told us "We MUST enjoy Mumbai!". This same story was repeated again and again for many staff. Instead of them asking us if we had a good day ashore, we were asking about their day and listening to their stories. The countdown to our arrival here started a long time ago!
It was also with nervous anticipation of a different kind that Katie and I experienced on the days leading up to our call in Mumbai. On the advice of a few, we had cancelled our organised trip a couple of weeks ago and instead had decided to go it alone, along with Trevor and Jean of course, our travelling buddies. Without them, I'm not sure I would have the confidence to tackle the city, or get the most out of it. As with many other places, we'd had our expectations set by Jo at her port talk, a repeat of which we'd watched on the TV in the cabin. She detailed the things we were likely to see and experience, including the things that as westerners we would find most disagreeable. I find it strange that Jo obviously feels the need to include this information as a warning to those who are expecting flowers and perfume at every port. One would have thought that, as people who have chosen to travel and see the world, our fellow passengers would be an open minded and relatively worldly-wise bunch, but it seems there is still a few who need to be told for their own safety! So rightly or wrongly, we were going to see Mumbai ourselves, I'm really glad we did, but it's easy for me to say that now as I sit on the balcony crossing the Arabian sea. We've had many "adventures" on this trip, but they don't become "adventures" until you're sat recounting them with a cold beer in your hand! (Right now, I have a coffee, not a beer..yet!)
The 4 of us had done more planning than usual for the day. We knew what we wanted to see, where most of it was, and how we would get between each place. We'd also researched the likely cost of a taxi to take us the places we wanted to go to. Katie was assigned as chief negotiator, I was in charge of navigation, Trevor was security officer with a secondary mandate for navigation and Jean was looking after our nutritional and beverage requirements! We did all this as a bit of a joke, and predictably, all these roles fell apart the moment we stepped ashore at 8am.
We were welcomed by a gathering of local Hindu ladies who dutifully placed a Bindi onto everyone's forehead as they disembarked. We walked into a large cruise terminal and changed a few Pounds for Rupees as the nearest ATM wasn't apparent. We'd been advised and had agreed amongst ourselves, to walk outside of the port gates in order to get a taxi, because it would be cheaper, but that didn't stop half a dozen drivers vying for our business. Chief negotiator Katie tried her luck anyway and was quoted $40 for the day, way too much. In fact, we didn't even want a taxi for the whole day, we were intent on seeing 3 things initially, but convincing the waiting drivers that it was those 3 things, and those 3 things alone that we would pay for, was our first challenge. The moment we stepped from the relative calm of the port and into the real world, Katie's role as negotiator went out the window. We should have realised that the drivers would only want to speak with Trevor. As we trailed behind, trying to stay out of the hustle and bustle, and with the negotiation struggling a little, Katie was picked off to start another conversation with another taxi! Add to this a couple of ladies who were following us and begging for money, you can maybe imagine the chaos. And it's not that we weren't expecting this either, this chaos was anticipated and was the very reason we had clear objectives and a price in mind. I can't imagine the arguments or overcharging that would occur for those who were less well prepared.
Price and destination firmly agreed and confirmed several times, we jumped into a car and realised we'd managed to haggle our way into possibly the smallest and oldest taxi in the whole of Mumbai. Katie, Jean and I were all sat in the back, having ample leg room, but bent double to keep our heads from tearing a whole in the roof lining. Said roof lining was probably the most highly polished part of the car, decades of unwary passengers before us using their hair to buff it to a shine with every bump and corner! Our introduction to life on the streets of Mumbai started almost immediately with a lesson on traffic light etiquette. If the people in Vietnam were taught to drive by the Sampan Boat drivers in Hong Kong, then the Mumbai taxi drivers were taught by the Vietnamese. Red lights were more of a suggestion than an instruction and lane or no lane, any spare piece of tarmac was fair game in order to further ones progress. After 30 seconds of stunned silence, Javeed, our driver looked over his shoulder to check we were still in the back seat and said "My Indian passengers are not usually so quiet". It made us laugh, but he didn't stop looking at us until he had solicited a more comprehensive response, I think it was our wide eyes and open mouths that made him turn around again just in time to avoid a pedestrian.
If motorbikes were the transport of choice in Vietnam, then the black and yellow taxi was the Mumbai equivalent. 70,000 of them exist in Mumbai alone, luckily we saw more of them parked at the side of the road than actively carrying passengers! That's not to say the streets weren't busy, but with it being a Saturday I think we avoided the worst of the traffic. Apart from the cars there were people walking/running, bikes, people pushing 2 wheeled carts amongst all the traffic, and randomly goats and cows on the side of the road, sometimes crossing the road. There didn't seem to be any particular priority given to any one group of road users, but cars are harder and move faster and because of those reasons alone, they were treated with most caution. They didn't really treat each other with such caution though. We didn't bump or get bumped, but passed multiple times within centimeters of others; cars and people, horns were used at every opportunity, no perceivable structure as was the case in Vietnam. Katie warned Trevor not to rest his arm on the window sill for fear of it being used as a bumper, such was the proximity to the car next to us. Nowhere have we been so far, where I have felt the need to describe our first half an hour in the country as an assault on the senses. It seems a overly dramatic and cliched phrase, but the noise, and smells combined with the feeling that you wanted to look everywhere at once, meant that we were truly bombarded with "new" in every direction.
We had been informed that our first stop would take us anything from 40 minutes to 1.5 hours to reach, luckily it was actually only about 30. "Dobi Ghat" is a huge, open air laundry that services Mumbai residents. For roughly 10 Rupees, (13 pence) you can have the dirt literally smashed out of a shirt on a stone slab, rinsed, dried, ironed and returned to your door the next day. 90% of clothes get returned to the correct household, which still leaves 1 in 10 to go missing or find a new owner! Not too bad considering there is no automation at any point in the collection, washing or delivery process. There were rows and rows of concrete baths filled with murky water, and hundreds of lines full of clothes and sheets drying in the open air. Stood overlooking the area on the steps of a bridge, we even saw the distinctive green scrubs from the hospital, operating theatre masks and all, drying in the sun. An organised tour from the ship turned up just as we were leaving, I wonder if the locals mind their laundry being used as a tourist attraction.
On our way to our next destination, the Hanging Gardens, Javeed drove us back the way we had come, through some desperately poor looking areas, and then through some of the apparently richest parts of Mumbai. The chasm between the 2 extremes is difficult to understand, let alone describe. Along the way we passed Chowpatty Beach, not a place for swimming (the water is described in our literature as "highly unsanitary") and a cricket ground which was in full use.
As we made our way to the final part of our tour, we passed close to the house where Ghandi used to live. The fact that we had spent so long convincing Javeed that we only wanted to see 3 things, and had agreed to pay him as such, meant that I felt a little uneasy about asking him to make an unplanned stop. Still he was very accommodating and so we spent a few minutes there, bumping into others from the ship too. Our final stop was to the Gateway of India, but not before Javeed had convinced us to take a quick look into a "very nice shop" probably owned by a friend or at least a commission paying associate! It was indeed a very nice shop, and luckily we were not the only people to have been taken there. I say luckily because it meant that the owners attention was not solely directed towards us and we could browse at our own pace, and walk out unscathed. We paid and thanked Javeed for his tour and walked over to the Gateway of India. This place might be familiar to many if you saw it in a picture. The large cobbled area in front of the monument is recognisable because it affords a clear view of the Taj Mahal Hotel, and is where a lot of the reporting of the Mumbai terrorist attacks in took place. Those attacks focused on the Taj Mahal Hotel itself and walking around the square opposite, remembering those news pictures, was quite a sobering experience for me. Because of these shootings, there is a big armed police presence in the area, with armoured cars and solid barriers all around the perimeter. There are metal detectors in the newly created single entrance and exit to the square although they appeared to be more of a visual deterrent, I didn't hear a single "beep" from any of them. We spent some time there, walking around the monument, watching the hundreds of boats and passengers coming and going from the small concrete quayside and generally soaking up the atmosphere. We watched as visitors and locals alike took pictures of their families, ice cream sellers sold wrapper-less lollies from a tin bucket lined with newspaper, and a crowd of people who were sat on the floor in the shade of the monument, tucked into their picnics like we would do in a beach resort in England.
We walked across the square and into the Taj Mahal Hotel. The hotel was one of the places recommended to us. We passed through working metal detectors this time and sent our bags through x-ray machines. I doubt these were in place until recently. Except for the decor inside, you could have been in any large, expensive hotel in the world. As we walked around the lobby area and through into a grand staircase in search of the "Sea Lounge", it was difficult to understand, yet chilling to imagine how 6 people could run around this beautiful hotel, firing indiscriminately at staff and guests. Despite the ornate surroundings, the security at the door, the and the guards on almost every corner, I felt strangely exposed, not a feeling I've ever had before. We were planning to have a drink and use the facilities here, but the calm of the Sea Lounge meant that we decided on an early lunch. I'm glad we did in the end, we didn't see anywhere suitable all afternoon.
Out of the cool and calm of the hotel, we were a stones throw from Colaba Causeway, a renowned shopping area and so headed on foot towards it. Market stalls lined the pavement selling an assortment of things that didn't interest us today. Maybe it was a combination of the heat, the crowded street or the fact that you couldn't browse without being accosted that turned us off, but we came away with nothing more than a sweat and a more ingrained memory of the poverty and dirt.
Consulting the map, we walked towards the Prince of Wales museum, and satisfied ourselves with it from the outside, there was no desire to pay to walk around inside. Further up the road, we found artists selling their work on the street and cows tied to the railings at the side of the road. We continued our walk past the Bombay Stock Exchange, where the Indian stock brokers were queuing for lunchtime food in the streets. We were told as we wondered into the area, that photography was not allowed for security reasons, the evidence for the introduction of the rule was still clear to see in the mangled remains of a building opposite the exchange.
Although we had no clear plan anymore, we knew we were heading back in the general direction of the ship and it was around this time that Katie and I decided we'd seen enough. The temperature, we learned in retrospect, was over 40 degrees by this time although the humidity wasn't nearly as bad as Singapore. I was feeling dehydrated and so we split from Trevor and Jean and headed back towards the ship, stopping to buy a big bottle of water on the way from a reputable looking shop. This was the only assurance you had that the water inside the bottle had been put there in the factory! It cost us 17 Rupees, about 22 Pence. We walked another 10 minutes before reaching the port gates again and headed inside after being offered various things, most of which we would not dare bring back on board! Arriving back in the terminal building, I looked for any signs of WiFi but was disappointed so with plenty of time to kill we headed upstairs to the duty free shop. Up there, amongst the beers and spirits we found Jason and Evan, 2 South African guys who earned their living from sailing other folks around on their yacht. They were stuck in Mumbai Port for a few days as the paying customers explored the city. They kindly shared their beers with us and we drank to Evan's birthday! We must have been in that small duty free shop for a couple of hours listening to their experiences and plans and learning more about the infamous waters into which we were all heading. A great end to the day! If you're reading this guys, maybe see you when you get home! Stay safe.
Back on board, and with the postcards posted, we grabbed (another) beer and headed up to join the deck party underway in Aquarius. I know I felt quite physically and mentally tired after the day but there was a good atmosphere up there already and as we relaxed, we shared our experiences with others. Despite the warnings, there were plenty who disliked Mumbai simply because of how dirty it was. We can say that we liked Sydney because it was somewhere we could imagine living, but we certainly can't describe Mumbai like that. To say you don't like somewhere because it's not like home, I find quite shallow. We liked our day for different reasons. While you can't help but be affected by the poverty, the begging and the dirt, it doesn't take much to see the city as a whole, for all it's good and bad points and to enjoy the fact that it is so different from anywhere we've been before. You may have seen an advert for Indian tourism on the TV, the strap line is "Incredible India" and if Mumbai is representative of India as a whole (I realise that's a big, "if") then I'd say that strap line was pretty accurate.

7. brezna 2011 – Port Kelang - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Dnes rano se nam vstavalo celkem tezko, protoze jsme meli za sebou celkem rusny tyden, kdyz jsme behem peti dnu meli dve zastavky v Thajsku, pak jen jeden den ( sobota 5.brezna) na mori, den v Singapuru a dnes nas cekala Malaysie a jeji hlavni mesto Kuala Lumpur. Chris byl celkem cily, ale mne chvili to vstavani trvalo. Chris dosel pro rychlou snidani, kterou jsme rychle slupli v nasi kajute a pak uz byl cas, abychom vyrazili do Palladia, kde se jako vzdy schazeli pro vsechny organizovane vylety. Jeste jsem cestou skocila na recepci koupit 5 Malajskych znamek, ktere dnes zatim zlomili rekord a stali se nejlevnejsi znamkou na nasi ceste, jeji cena v mistni mene byla pouze $0.50 Ringints, coz je v prepoctu asi 0.11 libry. Na recepci vzdy prodavaji znamky pro zemi, kde prave jsme, coz je super, pak uz jen clovek musi najit schranku, kde to poslat, coz se nam temer stale nedari, takze vetsina nasich pohledu konci v rukach mistnich lidi, kteri nam vzdy slibi, ze je pro nas poslou, tak pak jen muzeme doufat, ze je misto do schranky nehazeji do nejblizsiho kose, no to se teprve uvidi, az je v Nachode vsechny prepocitam. Kdyz se mi konecne podarilo vystat frontu, mnoho lidi melo stejny napad jako ja a nekteri si navic jeste smenovali mistni penize, Chris s Jean a Trevorem na me uz cekali s cervenym cislem 27 – jako nalepkou, coz bylo cislo naseho autobusu, ktery nas mel dovezt do Kuala Lumpur. Pristav Kelang je pouze branou do hlavniho mesta Malaysie, ktera jako takova lezi na rece, tedy spis dvou rekach, jedna se jmenuje Kuala a druha Lumpur a bohuzel neni mozne se dostat nekam blize. Nas vylet byl pouze transport tam a zase zpet, protoze nebylo snadne se z pristavu jinym zpusobem dostat. Dalsi moznost bylo jet na organizovany vylet a nebo pak satl bus to nedalekeho obchodniho centra, my vsak obe vyloucili a chteli jsme videt a zazit ono Kuala Lumpur a mit moznost jit tam, kam my chceme a nebyt jako stado krav hnany s pruvodcem, kam vlastne mozna ani nechceme.

Nas pruvodce na ceste byl tentokrat Malajsky Cinan Larry, ktery nam po dobu nasi cesty rozdal mapy mesta a poskytl par uzitecnych informaci, ktere nam pomohli naplanovat nas den. Celkem legracni bylo, kdyz se ho pak nekdo na cokoliv dalsiho zeptal co by chtel delat, Larryho odpoved prevazne byla: “Tak to bych teda nedelal” a nebo: “To neni zrovna dobry napad”. Nekdo z nas se ho zeptal, zda z jedne stanice metra muzeme dojit do vyhlaseneho parku, protoze na mape to vypadalo tak blizko a Larryho reakce opet byla: “Tak tohle tedy neni zrovna ta nejlepsi varianta, to tedy urcite nedelejte!” Chvili nam pripadalo, ze Larry by byl nejradeji, kdybychom jen vystoupili z autobusu a celych skoro sedm hodin, co jsme tam meli byt, pak stravili nakupovanim v prilehlem Petronas Twin Towers obchodnim centru. Nakonec ale par rad co nam dal opravdu prislo vhod. Vsechno na mape vypadalo celkem blizko, ale dali jsme na Larryho a rozhodli se vyuzit mistni metro, ktere vypadalo velmi snadno pouzitelne a pratelske. Jeste jedna z perlicek, kterou jsme po ceste byli pobaveni bylo, kdyz nam Larry licil, jak se kazdy den prodava vstupenky na Petronas Twin Towers, ktere az do roku 2008 byli nejvyssi budovou na svete – ted uz jsou jen na 3. miste!, asi 1000 vstupenek kazda za 10 Ringits, a ze jsou vetsinou uz kolem pul jedenacte rozebrane, takze asi nebudeme mit moznost jednu z techto vstupenek ziskat. Kdyz v tom mu kdosi z autobusu rekl, ze cetl o tom, ze Petronas Towers jsou kazde pondeli zavrene, coz Larry bez vahani ihned priznal, a zrovna dnes bylo pondeli, takze uz vlastne nebylo treba nam tuto zalezitost vysvetlovat dale. V tu chvili se opravdu cely autobus 27 pobavene mozna napul smutne a napul trochu ironicky zasmal. Na druhou stranu bych ale Larrymu nechtela krivdit, myslim, ze patril k jednem z tech lepsich pruvodcu, co jsme zatim na nasi ceste zazili a tak jsme byli celem radi.

Cesta trvala necelych 90 minut a kdyz nas autobus neco po desate hodine rano zastavil hned pred Petronas Twin Tower, Larry nam ukazal, kde se vsichni musime v 16:30 sejit, aby nas zase mohl bezpecne dopravit zpatky a vcas do naseho pristavu. Zastavka mistniho metra nazvana KLCC (Kuala Lumpur City Centre), byla hned v podzemi Petronas Towers. Prvne jsme potrebovali nejake mistni penizky a jelikoz jsme zjistili, ze nam jeste zbylo 122 singapurskych dolaru, tak jsme je hned v prilehle smenarne vymenili na Malajske Ringits, coz pri kurzu 1: 2.33 znamenalo, ze jsme nahle misto 122 dolaru meli celych 284 Ringits, a pripadalo nam, ze to byl teda dobry deal a ze jsme desne bohati! Tam kam jsme chteli jet – do stanice Pasar Seni - to byly jen 4 zastavky, jedna cesta je pro vasi predstavu 1.60 Malayskych Ringits (RM), coz je asi 9.60 ceskych korun ( 1RM je asi 6 ceskych korun). Metro bylo velmi ciste, klimatizovane a opravdu velmi prijemne, naprosto jste se tam citili bezpecne, skoro stejne jako v prazskem metru a o hodne lepe nez v tom londynskem. Kdyz jsme prijizdeli do nasi zastavky, tak jsme najednou byli nadzemi, takze kdyz budete nekdy v Kuala Lumpur (KL), tak si pamatujte, ze Pasar Seni je nadzemni zastavka zatimco v zastavce KLCC jste v podzemi. Pak uz jsme vystoupili a chteli se trochu zorientovat, kde to vlastne jsme a jak se dostaneme, tam kde chceme byt pesky, i kdyz nesmime zapomenout, ze podle Larryho to vlastne nebyl vubec dobry napad.

Rozhodli jsme se, ze i pro dnesni den zustaneme ve spolecnosti Trevora a Jean a spolecne naplanujeme cestu, kam se tedy vlastne vydame. Trevor a Jean se chteli podivat na budovu stareho vlakoveho nadrazi, ktera mela byt postavena v Islamskem stylu a take se z venku podivat na narodni mesitu. Ja a Chris jsme chteli navstivit Ptaci svet, ktery se nachazel v prostorach tak zvanych Kuala Lumpurskych jezernich zahrad. Zorientovali jsme se celkem snadno v mape a vyrazili jsme smerem, ktery vypadal, ze bude ten pravy. Zprvu jsme si byli trochu nejisti, kdyz nase cesta vedla pres celkem rusnou ctryproudou silnici a pak jsme museli projit nadchodem a pak pres cele jedno z vlakovych nastupist asi jednoho z hlavnich vlakovych nadrazich, ktere zevnitr velmi pripominalo mensi podobu prazskeho Wilsonova nadrazi. Kdyz jsme se asi po 15 minutach konecne pres vsechny koleje a nadrazni budovy nasli cestu ven, meli jsme pred sebou budovu onoho stareho nadrazi, ktera byla velmi hezka a historicka. Dale jsme prosli kolem Narodni Mesity – kam se vejde az 8000 vericich, Islamskeho Centra a Muzea Islamskych umeni, dale pak nahoru do kopce kolem Narodniho Planetaria a Pamatniku Tuna Razaka, az jsme konecne nasli vstup do Ptaciho Sveta. Myslim, ze nikdo z nas si presne nedokazal predstavit, co ma vlastne cekat, ja jsem si rikala, ze to bude nejaky park, kde je hodne ptaku ci tak neco, ale myslim, ze nase a hlavne moje predstavy byly vskutku mylne. Kdyz jsme videli ceduli s napisem “World’s Largest Free-flight Walk-in Aviary” nebo-li “Ptaci voliera kam muzete volne vejit, ktera je nejvetsi na svete”, tak jsme si rekli, ze kdyz jsme to ted uz nasli, tak se musime podivat dovnitr, i kdyz jsme si byli stale vedomi, ze chceme s nasim casovym planem nakladat tak, abychom videli opravdu co nejvice.

“Ptaci Svet” nebo-li obrovska zasitovana voliera, se nachazi na zhruba 21 akrech a je umistena v tropickem parku a najdete zde pres 3000 ptaku 200 ruznych domacich i zahranicnich druhu. Koncept ktery odlisuje tento ptaci park od jinych je ten, ze v Kuala Lumpurske ptacim parku, vetsina ptaku muze volne letat a neni zavrena v klecich. Mate pocit, jako kdyz prochazite obrovitanskou kleci, kde se muzete setkat z ruznymi druhy ptaku velmi zblizka. Pomalu jsme tedy prochazeli timto svetem a potkavali ptaky od ruznuch druhu papousku, pres volavky, pavy, kohouty ( to je pro ne asi zahranicni druh!) az po pelikany, plamenaky, orly a pstrosy. Meli jsme urcity zvlastni pocit symbiozy mezi ptaky, mistnim tropickym prostredim a lidmi, kteri se tuto velmi hezkou lokalitu rozhodli navstivit. Mne se nejvice libilo v oddelene mensi voliere nazvane “Svet Papousku”, kde byly prevazne tyto druhy Macaws, Cockatoos, Lories a Parakeets. Jedni z techto mi pripomneli moji zkusenost ze Svateho Tomase a tak jsem se hned sla podivat, zda je budu moci nakrmit. Behem nekolika vterin jsme dostala do prave ruky misku s nektarem a do leve zase hrst slunecnicovych seminek. Nez byste rekli svec, tak mi na kazde ruce sedelo sest barevnych papousku a vesele se krmili a trepotali se na mych rukou. Prvne jsme byla trochu v soku, protoze jsem necekala, ze budou tak rychli, ale pak uz to bylo celkem fajn. Chris nelenil a hned udelal par fotek a tentokrat mohl natocit i video. Kdyz panacek co to tam mel na starosti videl, ze Chris ma plne ruce kamery, behem chvilinky mu kameru vysmekl a naplnil mu ji take slunecnicovymi seminky, a papousci nelenili a hned na nem vesele pristali a nerusene se krmili. Chris byl chvili v soku, jak se to vsechno tak rychle sebehlo, ale kdyz mu krasny cerveny papousek chodil po rameni, tak uz si to taky celkem uzival a bylo fajn, ze jsme oba mohli mit tento celkem unikatni zazitek. A navic ted uz Chris muze rikat: “ Ja jsem pirat a mam papouska, muj papousek ma rad slunecnici” J. Kdyz jsme se nabazili krmeni, byl cas se pomalu vydat k nasi dalsi destinaci, i kdyz myslim, ze byste zde mohli klidne jeste dalsi hodinu ci dve stavit. Navic tyto jezerni zahrady maji jeste krome ptaciho sveta dalsi destinace jako je Zahrada Ibisku, Zahrada Orchideji ci Motyli Zahrada, takze na cely den, tu klidne mate co objevovat. Vstupne do Ptaciho sveta v tuto chvili bylo 45 RM za dospelou osobu a 35 RM za deti, to jen pro porovnani, az sem pojedete priste vy, tak vite co ocekavat a jake asi bylo vstupne v roce 2011.

Jelikoz nas trochu tlacil cas, rozhodli jsme se vyzkouset mistni taxi sluzby a do nasi dalsi zastavky Central Marketu se vydat taxikem. Rozhodnuti to bylo spravne, uz proto, ze venku bylo kolem 30 stupnu a velmi vysoka vlhkost,takze misto 30 minut chuze, jsme taxikem byli za necelych 10minut a celych 15 RM, presne tam, kde jsme chteli. Zde jsme presli pres most Lebuh Raya Besar a navstivili Namesti Revoluce, kde je krome obri obrazovky, take Malajska vlajka na 100 metru vysokem stozaru ( Pravdepodobne nejvetsim na svete!) a mistni Royal Selargon Club, kde se poradaji ruzne sportovni zapasy, hlavne tenis, rugby a criket. Na tomto namesti se take odhrali a odehravaji ruzne vyznamene udalosti teto Malaysie. Malajska vlajka tu vysi od 31.srpna 1957, kdy se Malaysie stala samostatnou a prestala byt britsku kolonii. Kdyz jsme si vsechny tyto mista a stavby prohledli, tak uz byl cas na obed. Nasli jsme zalibeni v mistni bistru nazvanem 77 Eslteler, kde jsme se rozhodli ochutnat mistni speciality. Chris zkusil mistni smazenou ryzi z kurecim masem a ja jsem ochutnala malajskou specialitu, coz je ryze s ancovickama ( ty zprvu vypadali jako cervici) s kokosova polevka s cervenym kari, do ktere si tuto ryzi jako do omacky namacite, je to celkem mnamka a bylo fajn zkusit neco mistniho. Po rychlem obede jsme si chteli radne prohlednout Central Market, ktery je zde otevren od roku 1888, a budova v niz se vnitrni cast obchodu nachazi byla postavena kolem roku 1930 a je ve stylu Art Deco. Krome obchodu s malajskymi vyrobky, ze take muzete najit ruzne restaurace, umeni a rybickovou lazen. Budova Central Marketu je uvnitr velmi pekna a vetsina vyrobku co tam prodavaji reprezentuje malajskou kulturu. Vydali jsme se objevit mistni artefakty a opravdu se zde dalo koupit celkem hodne veci, my jsme meli asi hodinu, za kterou jsme stihli koupit par pohledu, pouzdro na mobil, dve tasky v malajskem stylu, Chris si vybral bilou kosili s malajskym vzorem a ja jsem si koupila velmi zajimave saty, ktere se mi moc libili a navic pry reprezentuji posleni vystrelek malajske mody, takze nase nakupovani bylo celkem uspesne. Jedine co jsme nezkusili byla prave ta rybickova koupel. To jsou takove bazenky, ve kterem plavou malinke rybicky asi tak 5-8cm velke, kam si date nohy a ty rybicky vam okusuji starou kuzi na nohach. Vim, ze to asi zni celkem nechutne, ale pry je to velmi prijemne a dodava to energii a navic kdyz pak nohy po 10 -20 minutach vyndate, tak mate pocit jako kdyz jste prave byli na pedikure. Takze tohle je urcite jedna z veci, co chceme priste zkusit, skoda jen ze nam Larry nerekl, ze je to neco co urcite musime vyzkouset, protoze kdyz jsme videli lidi, jak v tech bazenkach maji nohy, tak jsme je jen neme pozorovali a nejak nas nenapadlo, ze za 10RM za 10 minut bychom to misto toho cuceni na ostatni lidi vlastne take mohli sami vyzkouset, no nic aspon je na co se tesit priste! Po treti hodine jsme se opet sesli s Trevorem a Jean, kteri uspesne nakoupili asi 4 kabelky, coz jsou darky pro ruzne cleny jejich rodiny, takze byli celkem spokojeni z uspechem sveho nakupovani. Jeste jsme museli 10 minut pockat, protoze mi v tom obchode, kde jsem si koupila ty saty posledniho vystrelku mody, tak mi je trochu zmensili. Proste tam normalne maji sici stroj a jedna z prodavacek je svadlena a hned na miste vam cokoliv upravi na miru, coz mi prijde docela jako super servis. Kdyz jsme si vyzvedla saty, tak pak uz jsme jen nasli nejblizsi stanici metra a vydali se zpet do stanice KLCC v prostorach Petronas Twin Towers. Zde uz byl cas jen osvezit se z mistniho “juice talks” baru, kde delali jen dzusy z cersteveho ovoce, dali jsme rozmixovane jahody, maliny a boruvky s tropickym dzusem a ledem a byla to uzasna osvezujici mnamka, kterou jsme brckem vychutnavali temer po celou cestu zpet v autobuse.

Kdyz jsme se chteli jit seskupit tam, kde nas Larry mel potkat, nebylo to tak jednoduche, protoze zacala obrovska tropicka boure a jedna z nejvetsich prutrzi mracen, co jsme kdy videli. Takze cela nase skupinka z autobusu 27 se schovala pred vstupem do Petronas Twin Towers – zcela a naprosto hloupe blokovala vsechny ostatni normalni lidi, co jen chteli vejit ci odejit a destove preprsce nekladli zadny vetsi duraz – nase skupinka turistu vsak mozna trochu hloupe doufala, ze to musi preci kazdou chvili prestat. Asi po 10 minutach se objevil i Larry a rekl, ze autobus na nas ceka asi 150 metru dale, takze jsme se vsichni museli pustit na cestu. Chris mel celkem radost, protoze konecne mohl vyzkouset svuj novy Trepass Anorak, ktery zatim od te doby co ho v Hong Kongu konecne koupil, jen lezel v jeho cestovni brasne ladem. Ja jsem se schovala pod destnik k Trevorovi a vsichni jsme spolecne vyrazili k autobusu a nad hlavama nam zatim slehali hromy a blesky. Cesta zpet do pristavu byla poradne destiva, takze jsme nabrali trochnu zpozdeni, ale bylo uzasne pozorovat jak se vsude vali voda a zaleva tuto tropickou a velmi zelenou krajinu kolem nas. Kdyz jsme projeli po dalnici a zastavili na nekolika zastavkach, kde se pravdepodobne platilo za prujezd dalnici, tak jsme neco pred 18. hodinou byli zpet v pristavu. Puvodne jsme meli byt zpet na palube v 17:30, takze jsme chteli jen rychle projit celni kontrolou a zpet na lod. Kdyz jsme ale zjistili, ze jeste chybi dalsi 3 autobusy, tak jsme nas navrat jeste trochu oddalili a rozhodli se vyhodne investovat zbyle malajske ringits do mistni pepsi a jeste jedne limonady, ktera opravdu byla mistni specialita. Chteli jsme i nejake mistni pivo a kdyz nam rekli, ze Carlsberg je jejich mistni pivo, tak jsme se na to moc netvarili, protoze to je jako kdyz se vam nekdo snazi prodat svycarske hodinky na Aljasce. Kdyz nam ale upresnili, ze se v opravdu tyto plechovky i jejich obsah v Malajsii vyrabi, tak jsme neodolali a ivestovali temer nasich poslednich 32RM za 4 plechovky temer mistniho moku. Vyjeli jsme eskalatory nahoru a zde byli jeste dalsi obchody, ale uz opravdu nebylo moc casu, takze jsme stihli koupit 6 Krispy Cream koblizek, ktere mame radi v Anglii a tak to byl spis takovy sentimentalni nakup. Kdyz jsme prosli celni kontrolou a nase cestovni brasny projeli rengenem, objevil se dalsi obchod s likery vsech druhu tentokrat vsak Duty Free, nedoslo nam, ze uz jsme vlastne v bezcelni zone. Kdyz jsme zjitili, ze ty stejne piva, jsou zde vice nez o polovinu levnejsi, nemohli jsme tomu uverit. Dalsi jsme tedy dohromady jeste dalsich 11RM a koupili dalsi 4 piva! Pocitate spravne ze tech puvodnich 32RM by nam zde stacilo na celych 11 mistnich Carlsbergu! I tak jsme meli radost a dali jsme jedno pivo Igorovi, ktery je z Chorvatska a stara se na lodi o nas Internet, a pak jedno Antonovi, ktery je nas stevard a ten je zase z Indie a oba meli radost a my jsme zase byli radi, ze oni maji radost.

Pri odplouvani z pristavu jsme dnes zustali na nasem velkem balkone a meli kavu z cafe Vivo a pustili jsme se do tech koblizek. Vedle nas kotvila americka valecna lod a zrovna kdyz jsme odpolouvali, tak na ni pristavala helikoptera, tak to byl celkem dobry zazitek. Vetsina posadky byla na palube a pozorovana jak nase lod odplouva. Pak jsme si take vsimli, ze kapitan ten valecne lodi nejake dva lidi pana s pani vita, asi nejake mistni velkem zvire. Slunce pomalu zapadalo a my jsme pozorovala zelene malajske brehy, kdyz jsem si rekla, ze takto vypada opravdovy prales a ze by bylo super mit nejaky jeep a jen tak si tou zeleni prijizdet a pozorovat zvirata a tropicke rostliny, to je take jedna z veci, co bychom radi udelali, az se do Malajsie nekdy vratime a myslim, ze to bude jedna z destinaci, kam se vydame zpet, protoze nas zaujala mnohem vice nez vyslechteny Singapore.

Dnes vecer jsme po 4 dnech prestavky sli na formalni veceri do restaurace Merridian, protoze v predchazejicich dnech se nam tam moc nechtelo a chteji jsme jen rychlou veceri a ne zadne dlouhe vysedavani. Vecer byla party 60. – 70. leta, kdyz Powerhouse hral v baru Aquarius. Vsichni byli po narocnych a plne nabitych 5.dnech zcela unaveni, takze to byla celkem skoda, protoze zivou hudbu na venkovni palube nemame tak casto a vsichni si mysleli, ze to nebyl uplne dobry napad udelat party hned po dni, ktery vsichni meli plne nabity, obzvlast kdyz nas cekalo 5 noci a 4 dny na mori pri plavbe do nasi dalsi zastavky Mumbai. Vecer jsme take nasla smsku od meho sefa, ktery se jen chtel ujistit, ze plan je stale stejny a ja se 4.dubna mam stale v planu vratit do prace. Tak jsme mu jen velmi strucne odpovedela, ze plan je zatim stale stejny a beze zmen, tak doufam, ze uz nas nebude pronasledovat dale. Jen jsme si tak predstavila, kdybychom treba nemohli jet pres Suezsky kanal, jak by asi vypadala moje omluvna smska do prace: “ Vazeny Sefe-STOP- Suezky kanal uzavren-STOP-zmena lodniho kurzu je nevyhnutelna-STOP-musime to vzit kolem jihu Afriky-STOP-zpozdeni bude veliky-STOP-asi tak dva mesice-STOP-navidenou v cervenci-STOP-PS:je mi to moc lito-STOP!!! Hmmm velmi zajimava myslenka si asi ted rikate, ale kdyz se nad tim zamyslite, kdyby se opravdu situace v Egypte, Lybii a v Omanu neuklidnila a konflikt se tam opravdu rozjel tim spatnym smerem a lode by nemohli pouzit Suezsky kanal, tak nase druha alternative je opravdu pouze cesta kolem jizniho cipu Afriky, takze jsme si tuto myslenku nemohla odpustit, protoze i kdyz to mozna zni trochu strasidelne, tak mne to celkem pobavilo a rikali jsme si, ze by to bylo celkem dobrodruzsti. Situace vsak vypada dobre, bylo nam uz receno, ze vsechny nase tri planovane zastavky v Egypte se uskutecni, takze to znamena, ze se Suez neuzavira…. Toz jaka to skoda, ale na druhou stranu je to velice dobra zprava a jsme moc radi, ze se vsude dostaneme a podivame!

Jeste pred usnutim jsme na nasem balkonu pres hodinu pozorovali nedalekou bourku na pevnine a blesky byly naprosto skvele. Pak se bourka trochu priblizila a tak jsme cekali, zda nas to taky zastihne, ale zustalo to jen u prirodni svetelne show a tak jsme si to hezky uzivali. Nas kapitan Peter Philipot se nam dneska vratil na palubu, protoze nas musel v Hong Kongu z rodinnych duvodu opustit, tak jsme misto kapitane meli Commodora (to znamena vice nez kapitan) Steva, ktery byl trochu nudny. Tak jsme celkem radi, ze mame Petra zpatky a verime, ze nas bude bezpecne navigovat do vsech pristavu a po cely zbytek nasi cesty.

4. brezna 2011 – Koh Samui, Thajsko – Mistni Taxi Bus – Plaz Lamai

Jak uz jsem rekla predtim, chteli jsme si tento den radne uzit na plazi a mori a mit pro zmenu takovy odpocinkovy den. Vedeli jsme, ze budeme opet kotvit asi 15minut od brehu a ze nas ceka lodni tendr. Poradove listky se meli zacit vydavat od 8:45 v piano baru, ale po predchozich zkusenostech a po diskuzi nasi skupinky predchazejici vecer, jsme vedeli, ze pokud chceme byt na brehu brzy, musime si privstat a zajistit si misto ve fronte. Plan byl byt v Piano Baru kolem osme hodiny. Ja jsem se jen probudila a rychle oblekla, pobalila rucniky, plavky a muj surf board co s nami cestuje uz z Hawaije, a vyrazila jsem na misto urceni v 7:50. Bylo zde uz tak 12 lidi, co melo stejny napad jako my. Take Ann a Dave, Ollie a Trevor, takze jsem byla rada, ze jsme se tu vsichni takto hezky a vcas sesli. Chris mi mezitim prinesl neco k snidani a cekani jsme si kratili planovanim toho, co podnikneme, az na breh dorazime. Mezitim se rada lidi za nami zvetsovala a zvetsovala. Teprve az po 9.hodine konecne prisla pani, co nam zacala davat listky, Chris a ja jsme meli cislo 13 a 14, takze jsme vedeli, ze snad uz budeme na brehu coby dup. Pozdeji jsme zjistili, ze lide co prisli pro listky kolem 9:30, tak se na breh dostali az kolem 12.hodiny. My jsme meli stesti a radost z toho, ze jsme uz kolem 9:45 byli na brehu.

Ann, Dave, Ollie, Phil, Trevor, Jean a my dva jsme vsichni meli stejny plan dostat se na plaz Lamai, ktera mela byt asi 30 minut jizdy. Hned na brehu cekala velka skupinka mistnich ridicu, kteri nam nabizeli sve sluzby, takze jsme si mohli vybrat s kym pojedeme. Nakonec jsme nasli pana, co nam nabidl svuj taxik a za $60 nabidl odvoz tam i zpet. Cena to byla mozna na mistni pomery trochu vysoka, ale pri $7.50 za osobu za cestu tam i zpet se zdalo jako dobry deal a tak jsme souhlasili. Vsechny mistni taxiky byli spis takove pick-upy, ktere meli zadni cast predelanou na sezeni, takze jsme to meli i s prijmnym vankem, protoze jsme vlastne sedeli venku. Za 35 minut jsme byli v mestecku Lamai odkud bylo pouze 5 minut chuze na plaz. Zde jsme si nasli misto ve stinu pod palmamy, kde nas krome potentacionalni padu kokosovych orechu nad nami nic moc nerusilo. More sice nebylo tak uplne ciste pruzracne, jak jsme doufali, ale i tak jsme si tento den na plazi hezky uzivali. Nasla jsme prijemne misto pro obed, coz bylo otevrena restaurace hned na plazi, kde jsme mohli ochutnat mistni thajske speciality, jak uz Chris take popsal ve svych zapiskach. Jen jsme jeste chtela zminit, ze Phil a Ollie meli neco co pripominalo fondy, jen misto oleje pekli to sirove maso na takovem plechovem cedniku, ktery meli neustale polevat polevkovym vyvarem, takze to byl celkem zazitek je pozorovat, obzvlast proto, ze se u toho velmi jemne hadali a tak to byla celkem legrace. Byl to velmi pohodovy obed, kdy jsme nikam nespechali a jen jsme si mohli uzivat slunicko a atmosferu tohoto thajskeho ostrova. Kdyz jsme pak nasli trochu Internetu, tak jsme naharala par fotek, ktere uz jste jiste videli, takze muzete sami videt, jak to tam vlastne vypadalo.

Pred 15.hodinou jsme si sli jeste projit mestecko a mistni obchody, kde temer nikdo nebyl asi protoze bylo velke teplo a tak vsichni meli takove mensi siestu. Krome pohledu jsme nekoupili vlastne nic jineho a pak uz byl cas jit na misto urceni, kde nas stejny ridic na stejnem pickupu predelanen na taxik zase odvezl zpet do pristavu. Cestou bylo veselo a vsichni si zpivali, Chris natocil trochu krajiny kolem nas a take nase blaznive kamarady a spolupasazery a vsichni jsme meli pocit, ze jsme meli super den. V pristavu jsme byli celkem brzy jiz kolem 15:30, a protoze vsem puvodne rekli, ze posledni tender bude jiz v 16.hodin, a nekteri lide se na breh nedostali drive nez v poledne. Kazdy ze dne chtel mit co nejvice a nechaval navrat az na poslednich moznost, tak se na brehu v pristavu vytvorila obrovka fronta jak pasazeru tak posadky, kteri se snazili dostat zpatky na lod. Ja jsem opet mela problem, ze v tomto pristavu nebyl zadny terminal ani zadne zazemi, jen takove plechove pristresky, a tak tu nebyla ani zadna schanka. Opet jsme tedy pohledy dala jen nekomu, kdo slibil, ze je posle, tak snad i pozdravy z Koh Samui dorazi zpet domu. Asi po 45 minutach cekani jsme se dostali na lod, kterou poskytl mistni pristav jako posilu a tak jsme byli radi, ze se nemusim mackat nasardikovnani na nasem malem a tesnem tenderu. Kdyz jsme byli zpet na lodi, tak jsme jeste nedaleky ostrov pozorovali a fotili zapad slunce. Nas den se zdal byt naplneny a plny slunicka, plaze a more, presne tak, jak jsme si ho predstavovali a byli jsme radi, ze jsme na dvou odlisnych zastavkach v Thajsku meli moznost poznat tuto pro nas velmi novou zemi.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur has always sounded like an exotic destination to me, maybe it was the name itself, or maybe because it wasn't until relatively recently that I actually knew where it was.  Shame on me!  I think the first time I consciously remember knowing where it was located, was when I rented a flat in London from an air steward who worked for BA.  He had a big piece of art (a sort of tribal mask as I remember) hung on the wall in the hallway, and he told us that he had bought it here.  It impressed me at the time.

The view from our balcony as we moved slowly into dock this morning was not one of great beauty.  We'd tied up in what looked like another container port, and our limited perspective of the port gave us no clue as to where we were at all.  KL (as anyone who has been there before smugly calls it) was nowhere to be seen, and so we had to take an organised coach at our own expense, about 1 hour down the road to reach it.  We could have chosen not to, but the alternative was a free shuttle to a local shopping centre, and we didn't come 3/4 of the way around the world for that.    P&O gets away with this because they tell you that they are taking you to Port Kelang, the port itself.  We've quickly learnt that there is certain "estate agent" type jargon that we must be aware of in order to get the most out of our stay, and I will hereby enlighten you.

If somewhere is said to be "The Gateway to...Some Place Else", this means that "Some Place Else" is probably Some Place Distant!  It requires a lengthy transfer.  A great many of Ryan Air's airport destinations could be described as such.

If someone tells you that Some Place has "Breathtaking Views" then be aware that there is a substantial climb involved in getting there.  You don't get something for nothing!

And finally, be mindful of food described as a "local specialty".  By all means try it, but watch that it doesn't contain things that we might consider giving a cute name back home.  There may be a reason it hasn't been made popular worldwide.

So there you have it, don't say that reading our blog has been a waste of time!

We boarded the coach to Kuala Lumpur City Centre (again abbreviated to KLCC for the lazy and boastful) and were treated to some great views as we got closer to it.  We were dropped off right underneath the Twin Petronas Towers, the tallest building in the world.  When it was built.  Now it's the 3rd.  Probably.  This is how it was described to us by our tour guide, Larry.  3rd tallest in the world isn't bad though, it was still a mighty impressive structure, but there was a bit of confusion as to whether we would be allowed to ascend it.  Larry explained that there were only 1000 free tickets issued each day and that the queues started at 6am so we had little chance of getting any today.  It turns out that Larry wasn't being 100% honest with us.  As some lady sitting a bit further back explained in a loud voice to the whole coach, "You don't have ANY chance of getting in today, it's closed on Mondays".  She's probably the same woman that calls it "KL" and I'm sure that tour guides the world over really love meeting well informed tourists.  Larry looked like he was grateful for the information, just like a Zebra is grateful to be eaten by a Lion.  So we didn't go up the Petronas Towers, but we did stand at the bottom and get neck ache from them.  That and the photos should help preserve the memory of their sheer size. 

Underneath the offices that make up the majority of the towers, a 4 story shopping mall tempts you into air conditioned, commercial heaven.  We were having none of that, and decided to make use of the underground trains to take us to Central Market, from where we could explore by foot, some of the highlights of the city.  Only one line serviced this particular station, so it didn't require too much brain power to buy 4 tickets (we were hanging out with Trevor and Jean again) and board the correct train travelling in the correct direction.  The service was fast, efficient, not too crowded (although we were standing for most of the 10 minute journey) and above all, it was cool.  The train appeared at Central Market above ground, and we stepped out of the sliding doors and back into the oven outside.  We found our bearings and walked to find the old train station and a mosque.  I won't pretend to be all knowledgeable about these 2 places, but they were on the way to the Bird Park so we took some pictures.  We headed up hill a little way and towards a tourist attraction called Lake Gardens.  Within the gardens we found the Bird Park - The "World's Largest Free-flight, Walk-in Aviary" no less.  As with many of the Largest, Tallest, Steepest claims, I have no way of checking, but I can confirm that it was quite sizable.  I have a long standing love that I share with at least one other person, of the way that attractions worldwide advertise themselves.  So much so that I thought I would try to impress you by saying that if our cabin on board Arcadia was a tourist attraction, then it would be known as the World's largest rear facing, clothes strewn, passenger ship cabin on board a ship whose name began with A.  Lies, damn lies, statistics and tourist attraction claims.

Despite its questionable size claims, the Bird Park was very good, and although we limited ourselves on the time we spent there, we still had the chance to wander around in the midst of some very colourful and exotic looking birds, and to feed some of them from our hands.  And our heads.  And my shoulder.  In fact, these particular parrots would sit or cling onto any part of your anatomy on which they thought they might get fed.  I was happily filming Katie as she entertained about 6 on her arm, 1 on her head and 2 on her other hand as they ate sunflower seeds and slurped sugary mixture, but I wasn't immune from their attention.  With a single move that would have impressed a watch thief, the park guide suggested he film us both, and in taking the camera dropped a handful of seeds into my palm.  Before I'd even noticed he'd done it, the birds were upon me too.  All I could do was stand there, arms outstretched like a half-hearted scare-crow.  I've shaved the beard off now in a vain attempt to keep cool, and so I didn't look like a complete scare-crow!

A tick in the box next to the Bird Park, we jumped into a taxi to take us back to Central Market.  There was no way we were walking back in the heat.  The next item on the agenda before lunch was to find Merdeka square where another "world's tallest" could be found.  This time is was a flag pole, about 100m tall where the Union Jack was lowered, and the Malaysian flag raised in 1957.  It was sat on the edge of a nice square, more cricket ground, than cobbled piazza.  Across the road was one of the most famous landmarks in the city.  The Sultan Abdul Samad Building is now a court building, but its clock tower is apparently very photographed and looks like Big Ben.  We duely obliged.  We retraced our steps back to the Central Market area, and made a surprisingly quick decision about where to eat.  We wanted something practical that wouldn't take up too much time, but didn't want to eat in KFC.  (There was one a bit further up the road, but the queue was almost out the door!) We opted for what we took to be the Malaysian equivalent of McDonalds, "Es Teler".  It was quick, very tasty and for 3 meals it cost about 6 pounds.  No fries or burgers to be seen.

Stomachs full again, it was time to look around the Central Market.  We found a couple of things.  Katie bought a dress, I got a shirt, and the prices seemed more reasonable than in Singapore.  But time was marching on, and with Katie having some alterations to her dress done, we were a little later than planned leaving the market.  We got the underground back to KLCC and had enough time to look around a few shops at the bottom the Petronas towers before gathering to catch the coach back.  In the time that we were cocooned inside, a storm was brewing outside, and we could hear the thunder as we walked around the mall.  Larry had warned us this morning that there may be rain when we were collected, and he was right.  He advised us to wait undercover by the entrance to the mall, and so a small crowd made up of people on our coach, and others, started to grow as the rain lashed down and the thunder and lightening crashed around us.  Once all present and correct, we had to make a mad dash for the coach, about 200 meters away.  We've experienced some heavy rain since we've been away, and this was fairly monsoon like too, but I've never heard and seen thunder and lightening as intense as we did today.  Before we dashed, I put on my new waterproof jacket (don't call it an anorak!) that I've been carrying around in the bottom of my bag since I bought it in Hong Kong.  I was secretly pleased to let it see the light of day and it had a good initiation.  With my hood up, and my head down, all I could see were the back of Jeans shoes as we headed to the sanctuary of the waiting coach.  She led me through some sizable puddles but it was inevitable that something was going to get wet.  Looking out of the window of the coach as it weaved its way through the suburbs; I think we got off lightly.  It was still raining and I was amazed at the amount of water running down the roads and through ditches at the side of the roads.  I watched as it created temporary waterfalls off the bridges and fly-overs and down steps towards houses and driveways. 
Arriving back at a bone dry port, we realised that it was quite rich in facilities.  A convenience store, where we tried to spend our remaining Ringgits, a big Wi-Fi enabled room where we had no time to logon, and a duty free store the other side of "security" where the beer we had bought just 5 minutes earlier, was less than half the price!  We live and learn.  We were a little late leaving the port because several coaches from the city had been delayed by the traffic and the rain.  It gave us time to sit on the balcony and relax and also to witness a helicopter coming into land on the American warship docked right next to us.  Nice touch. 

Later that evening:

As I'm writing this it's about 11.30pm and we've just been standing on our balcony at the back of the ship watching the best lightening show we've ever seen.  The storm must be over the land somewhere, but we have an uninterrupted view of it as it lights up the sky and the clouds every few seconds.  Not just the odd flash, but one after another, and often several at a time.  We've been standing there mesmerised for about 30 minutes after which it started to die down.  I tried to capture it on the video camera with some limited success, and also on my stills camera with slightly less.  I've always wanted to get a good shot of lightening, but even on bulb setting, where you can keep the shutter open as long as you like, the light from the strike isn't enough to register and convey the magnitude sufficiently.  Either that or my skill level has maxed out.  I suspect more of the latter.

Singapore

The night before arriving in Singapore, we were sat outside in our favourite bar, Aquarius, at the aft of the ship.  We'd eaten out there that night because we didn't fancy a full sit down experience.  We were joined by Melissa (Katie's pool jumping companion - that seems like a long time ago!) and also Hans, our First Officer friend who we met at "drinks with Captain" - also a long time ago.  He'd been to Singapore many times before and so was offering us some advice on things to do and see.  He was also explaining that we were docking into a rather large container port in Singapore, mainly because Arcadia is too tall to fit underneath a cable car that is suspended across the bay.  Bummer.  We're learning that big cruise ships are not always better ones.  Smaller ones might have less space or facilities on board, but they can dock in smaller ports and get to places that larger ones can not.

The port of Singapore is apparently, the 2nd busiest in the world after Shanghai in China measured by containers moved.  I can well believe it, the place is massive.  After a quick inspection on the key, we boarded a bus that took 10 minutes driving just to reach the exit to the port.  Our coach would take us on a "highlights" tour in the morning, and then we'd have the afternoon to do as we pleased.  We stopped at some pretty impressive Botanical Gardens, which had more Orchids growing than...well...somewhere where lots of Orchids grow.  I can't think of an analogy!  We were told that you could easily spend 2 days in these gardens if you wanted to see it all, we had 45 minutes.  For me, it was sufficient.  Next up on the highlights of Singapore was a water feature.  Named the "Merlion", it's a statue of a Lions head on a mermaids body, and it's apparently quite famous.  We took a few pictures, it seemed the right thing to do, but if I'm honest, the views across the bay and street artist who owned a big Boa Constrictor caught more of our attention.  We weren't allowed to be distracted too long, it was back on the coach for the next highlight.  Wait for it...China Town.  Every city has one, Singapore is no different except that this was possibly one of the tidiest, cleanest China Towns we've seen so far.
 
After China Town, the coach was heading back to port to drop people back at the ship, but there seemed little point in doing that, so we left the tour and continued on our own.  I was a little concerned that if we'd succeeded in seeing the highlights in 3 hours, that there would be little left to do this afternoon, but things improved considerably.  We walked to Clarke Quay, a nice area along the river side with lots of restaurants and cafes to choose from.  It was properly hot now but it was the humidity that I found difficult to deal with.  We ate outside, in the shade, and I ordered 2 pint sized glasses of sprite.  They didn't even touch the sides.

Gluten for punishment we skipped the extremely efficient, safe, clean and air conditioned underground train system and walked again to our next point of interest which happened to be Raffles Hotel.  Named after Sir Stamford Raffles, the founder of Singapore, no visit would really be complete without seeing it.  We did one better and sat at the bar in the open court yard and drank 3 Singapore Slings.  1 each that is.  They were very good, but strangely not really in keeping with the prices in the rest of Singapore!  The hotel itself was very impressive though, a little piece of colonial history amongst the modern skyscrapers. 

Although not planned, Katie and I also quite fancied a ride on (here we go again) the worlds tallest observatory Ferris wheel, the Singapore Flyer.  Another pleasant, if rather warm, walk took us to the wheel where we paid about 15 pounds each to take the trip.  It was cheaper than London's example and there were virtually no queues.  Predictably, it gave us great views, I'd have wanted my money back if it hadn't(!) but we couldn't see Arcadia from up there.  However, we did see a stack of other ships, large and small queued up waiting to dock into the port.  There must have been over 100, stretching from our furthest view on the left, all the way to our right.  We shared the large, air conditioned cabin with a group of girls from Perth, some of whom appeared to be quite scared of heights!  They were quite noisy but good fun, and they were very interested to hear about the cruise.

After we got our feet back on the ground, we jumped into a taxi to head back to the Cruise Centre, where a coach would take us back to the port.  We'd been informed earlier in the day that it wouldn't be possible to take a taxi directly back to the port, as they wouldn't be allowed through the gates.  It seemed to limit our options about getting back to the ship, we had to use the P&O coach which was leaving a little earlier than we would have liked.   

It's not hard to be impressed by the cleanliness of the city and to notice how truly green it is.  Often we hear of places that have lots of parks and trees but none we've been to have the same level of green as Singapore.  As an example, all the major roads have mature trees growing down the middle of them, you will almost never see a bare concrete wall because it will have some kind of vegetation growing up it and around it.  Even the huge supporting pillars of fly-overs, hidden underneath the road have plants attached to them.  We were told that there are 5 million people living in Singapore, and there is 1 tree for every 5 people.  If it were a village, it would win the "best kept" prize every year.  As a tourist destination, on the outside, it sounded perfect.  The things that make us happy right now are taxi's that are metered, places that are within easy walking distance, or transport systems that are easy, safe and clean to use.  Add to that, prices that are reasonable, a population that speaks fluent English and market traders that let you browse in peace!  Singapore had all of these but that's not to say it was perfect.  The same rules that make it a safe, clean and tidy place seem also to give it a very clinical feel with no soul or personality.  Maybe we needed to dig deeper to find that, or as with many places, it probably changes when the sun goes down, unfortunately we weren't able to experience that.

Ko Samui, Thailand

With only 250 miles to steam (nautical term) between Laem Chabang and Ko Samui, we arrived the next morning, just like on a normal cruise! This was another tender port, and we had to be back on board by 4.30pm which didn't give us a great deal of time. We got up early and queued for tender tickets. Katie was about 10th in line and she started queuing an hour before the tickets were due to be issued. You can see her surf board at the front of the queue in the pictures below. Once we were anchored and disembarkation had started, we hung around the area which led down to the tenders and, with the help of one of our crew friends, managed to squeeze onto the very first tender to leave the ship. It was actually only supposed to be for an organised tour but there were seats available, so we took them!

I don't like to moan about things, it doesn't seem right, but there does appear to be a problem with getting people quickly and efficiently off the ship. We spoke to people today who didn't get ashore until noon despite getting their ticket at 9.15am, and heard of others who had a grand total of 1.5 hours ashore. It's quite understandable that tempers were getting frayed, and there will be many a comment in the questionnaire at the end of this leg of the cruise. Never has the phrase, "You snooze, you lose" been more appropriate!

There were 8 of us who had grouped together to do the same thing today. 6 of us from our dinner table, and 2 others, Phill and Ollie who we know. There is not a lot to do on this small island, apart from visit the beach. So we did. In contrast to Vietnam, there were scores of waiting locals ready to take your money in exchange for some vehicular based service. We escaped the super keen ones and made it safely to the end of the line where we found a chap willing to take all 8 of us to Lamai Beach for US$30. The normal mode of transport on the island, was the same as we found in St Thomas a few years ago, a converted pick up truck with bench seats and a roof. We piled in, and he took off across the island. These trucks normally pick people up as they go along, you pay your money and you get dropped at your destination when it feels convenient for the driver. The other passengers on the "bus" might all get to their destinations before you, regardless of the order in which you boarded. It's typical island transport for those who don't wear a watch. However, this one, was ours alone. It took about 30 minutes to reach the beach, and only another 5 to find a shady spot underneath some palm trees, lay out our towels and smother ourselves in sun cream. Katie and I are not sun-worshipers and so we have discovered "P20" which is an all day lotion which seems to work well, even after being in the sea.

The sea itself wasn't as clean as we had hoped or been told it would be. It certainly wasn't snorkeling territory, so they stayed disappointingly in the bag. We did venture in though, it was lovely and warm, and although it got quite deep, quite quickly, it was visibly cleaner, further out. We messed around in the sea and on the beach all morning. Some of us sunbathing, some of us (Ollie) on his perpetual hunt for a white dinner jacket. They are not hard to come by, since Hong Kong it seems like the normal way to buy a suit is to have it made for you, but as they are all made to order they require a minimum of 4 hours from measuring to completion, and we didn't have that much time. Ollie came away disappointed again.

Katie's suggestion for a place to go for lunch was widely accepted and required us to walk all of 50 meters along the beach. It was a modest restaurant, and we sat around one big table and had the best lunch time meal I think any of us have had on any port of call. Local beers (Chang) were served in polystyrene coolers and the food was lovely. I had a sweet and sour dish, Katie had a Thai green curry. It came to about 600 Baht per couple, about 12 pounds.

With not much time for anything in the afternoon, we jumped back on the bus-van-truck which we'd "booked" to pick us up at 3 and having the promise of another US$30 to take us back, the driver was more than happy. At US$15 per couple both ways, it was a mutually beneficial arrangement and again, much cheaper than the organised tour to the beach.

The queue at the dock for the tenders was massive. It appeared everyone had left it until the last tender time before heading back, not something that is normal in our experience. I think it was down to the fact that a lot of people had not long been ashore, and I was happy to wait a while in the line if it sent a small message of dissatisfaction on behalf of those people. It did of course make us late leaving, but the consequences of that are yet to be felt. I'm glad we got up early though!

3. brezna 2011 – Laem Chabang, Thajsko – Pattaya – Sloni Vesnice

Po navsteve Vietnamu jsme meli dva odpocinkove dny na mori, ktere jsme celkem potrebovali. Moje nachlazeni ci spise nejaka viroza se stale nezlepsovalo a tak jsem prvni breznovy den musela navstivit naseho pana doktora Johana, ale tentokrat to nebyla jen navsteva podivat se jak to tam vypada a jak se ma, ale chtela jsem, aby zjistil, co se mnou vlastne je a zda s tim neco muze udelat. Zjistil, ze mam zanet hornich cest dychacich, plus zanet stredniho ucha a nasadil 3 denni antibiotika, sirup na krk a take leky na zanet stredniho ucha, aby mi ho pry nemusel propychnout. Tak jsem se 1. a 2. brezna pri plavne po Cinskem mori nekde mezi Vietnamem a Thajskem lecila, abych mohla byt za ty dva dny uz zase cila jako rybicka. To se mi sice uplne nepodarilo, ale kdyz jsme ve ctvrtek pristali v pristavu Laem Chabang, ktery je branou a zastavkou pro objevovani Bangkoku, tak jsem byla v pouzitelne kondici pro nase vylety. Jelikoz jsme jiz predem vedeli, ze cesta do Bangkoku je neco pres dve a pul hodiny tam a to same zpatky, tak jsme se rozhodli, ze tentokrat Bankonk nenavstivime a vyuzijeme cas pro objevovani nejblizsiho okoli a mozna i trochu nedaleke prirody.

Po velmi rychle snidani jsme tentokrat s pasy jsme prosli lodni branou, kde tentokrat nase pasy kontrolovali mistni celnici. Kazdemu se podivali do pasu a pak nahlas rekli jeho kresni jmeno, vyrazne se na nej podivali a pak pas vratili. Trochu nas to prekvapilo, protoze to bylo poprve, co vlastne nekdo chtel videt pri vystupu z lodi nas pas. Pak uz jsme pokracovali na parkoviste, kde jsme nasli nas satl bus, ktery nas mel odvezt do nedalekeho primorskeho mesta Pattaya. P&O vzdy zduraznuje, ze se bude jednat o pouze limitovane mnozstvi satl busu, ktere budou poskytovat, ale kdyz jsme vydeli radu asi patnacti, co byli jeste prazdne, vedeli jsme, ze nebude zadny problem najit misto. Duvod proc toto delaji je podle me, aby vystrasili lidi a tim je tak trochu donutili zarezervovat si radnou exkurzi, kterou samozrejme musi i zaplatit. My cim dal tim vic zjistujeme, ze vetsina organizovanych vyletu je v pomeru cena-vykon- zacitek celkem spatna a tim padem vice davame prednost zorganizovat si neco sami. Je to sice trochu vetsi risk, ale kdyz si udelate mensi pripravu toho,kam chcete jit a co chcete videt, tak za den stihnete mnohem vice. A to byl nas pripad i pro tuto zastavku.

Kdyz jsme prijeli do Pattayi, tak jsme se prvne trochu rozkoukali, prece jen to byla nase prvni navsteva Thajska v zivote, a tak jsme chteli zjistit, co nas vlastne ceka. Pattaya byla kolem roku 1950 skvelym primorskym letoviskem, ale bohuzel potencial tohoto mesta byl velmi brzy objeven a plne vyuzit pro rekreovani prvni americkych vojaku a pak vsech dalsich vojsk, ktere se tou dobou ucastnili ruznuch konfliktu ve Vietnamu, Korei a dalsich asijskych zemich. Tato reputace krasu tohoto letoviska trochu znicila, takze dnes uz tam nenajdete pruzracne cistou vodu a temer opustene plaze, ale je to mesto, ktere se pomerne rychte rozrostlo a asi byste si ho nevybrali pro tydenni dovolenou u more. Nekdy je celkem tezke, hned vedet kam mate jit a co delat, kdyz vlastne nemate predstavu, kde co je a jak daleko to ono co hledate vlatne je. Celkem snadno a rychle jsme se zorientovali v mape a protoze jsme vedeli, ze prvni cast naseho dne chceme stravit tim, ze najdeme sloni vesnici, vydali jsme se za nasim planem a snem. Po trose stresu s najitim toho spravneho taxika, ktery nas opravdu odveze tam, kam chceme, jsme konecne mohli relaxovat a uzivat si okoli, ktere se pomalu promenilo z ulic plnych domu do zelene thajske dzungle. Asi po 25 minutach jizdy, kdy obcas meli pocit, ze nas ridic stale nevi, kam nas vlastne veze, jsme najednou uvideli slona a vedeli jsme, ze jsme na spravne adrese. Po trose nedorozumneni, kdyz jsme nasemu ridici meli platit 250 thajskych Bath, a dali mi disko na 300 TBH, on pry souhlasil na 350 TBH, tak jste si opet mohli uvedomit, ze na vychode je opravdu nutne vsechny ceny domluvit predem a pak se nenechat zvyklat tim, ze treba ridic taxiku, muze zmenit to co pretim rikal. Takze jsme jeste jednou podekovali a sli jsme zjistit, co nas ceka v te nasi vytouzene sloni vesnici. Jeste pro upresneni 50 Thajskych Bath je 1 libra takze asi 28 ceskych korun. Takze vidite, ze taxik byl opravdu za hubicku.

U okenka nas privital mistni pruvodce a nabidnul nam hodinovy trek na slonovi (1000 TBH za osobu). Nebylo tam zrovna moc rusno a tak jsme si rekli, ze to tedy zkusime. Prvne jsme dostali asi 5ti minutovou prednasku o sloni vesnici a potkali jsme se s malym pouze 4mesice starym slunatkem a jeho maminkou. Slunatko se jmenovalo v prekladu “Need Love” a bylo velmi hrave. Byl to skvely zazitek moci k nemu jit a pohladit si ho a pak si nechat jeho chobotkem pekne osliznout ruku. Kdyz jsme si s nim pohrali, tak jsme jeste za 100 TBH koupili asi 5 kilo bananu, protoze to je jedna s pochoutek, kterou sloni maji radi a rekli nam, ze je dobre mit s sebou na cestu banany. Pak uz jsme nastupili na naseho slona a vydali se na tuto velmi zajimavou prochazku. Nas pruvodce se jmenoval Shai a moc anglicky neumel, takze se staral o rizeni slona a my jsme si uzivali tento velmi nevsedni zazitek. Prvne jsme prosli celkem hlubokou rekou, ze nas slonik v jednu chvili byl az po hlavu pod vodou. Teda podle toho co nam Shai rikal, tak to byla pani Slonice a bylo ji 54 roku, coz je pry celkem mlady vek pro slona. V teto sloni vesnici je celkem asi tak 40-50 slonu. Jsou to vsechno prevazne sloni, co byli pouzivani pro tezkou praci v thajskych dzunglich. V dnesnich dnech pro slony neni dostatek prace v lesich a tak mistni lide musi najit zpusob, jak si sloni mohou vydelat na zivobiti. Takze vsechny penize ze vstupneho jsou pouzity primo pro krmeni a osetrovani slonu a proto jsou pro ne navstevnici tolik duleziti. Musim rict, ze ta hodinova prochazka byla opravdu velmi dlouha a cestou jsme si mohli prohlednout prirodu i mistni domy, protoze v nekolika pripadech jsme se prochazeli na nasi slonici primo pod okny normalnich lidi. Cestou jsme potkali dalsich asi 15 slonu, kteri prave odvezli vetsi skupinku navstevniku k rece, kde se chystali pouzit rafty. Dokonce jsme zahledli i opicku, ktera se jen tak houpala ve stromech. Podarilo se nam udelat nekolik velmi dobrych fotek a natocit a neco na kameru, takze bude zajimave se na to podivat, az to vsechno sestrihame a dame dohromady. Kdyz jsme se vratili do vesnice, tak jsme Shaiovi i slonice pekne podekovali, jeste jsme se s nimi vyfotili, nahrmili ji zbytkem bananu a sli jsme si jeste pohrat se slunatkem, ktere se za tu hodinu,co jsme ho nevideli pekne rozdovadelo a chtelo si hrat. Takze do mne zacalo jemne kopat a narazet zadkem, tak to bylo srandovni. Jeho maminka mi zatim nepozorovane vyfoukla jeste par bananu co mi zbylo a dokonce si je hezky i s tou igelitkou co v ni byly, tak si to cele nacpala do pusy, chtela jsem ji ten igelit jeste vytrhnout, ale uz bylo pozde. Osetrovatele vsak vypadali, ze to neni problem, asi ta taska byla vyrobena z nejakych prirodnich materialu a v brisku se ji hezky rozlozi. Slunatko jeste stihlo obtocit chobot okolo Chrisovi nohy a temer ho povalit a pak jsme se sli obcerstvit cersve nakrajenym melounem, ananasem a thajskymi jablicky. Jeste zbyl cas na zapis do knihy hostu a jake to bylo prekvapeni, kdyz jsem zjistila, ze tam dnes v ten samy den byla nejaka rodinka z Brna protoze tam nechali zapis v cestine a podepsali se, asi jsme se s nimi museli videt, ale v tu chvili uz museli byt pryc. Rozloucili jsme se s vesnici i se vsemi obyvateli vcetne slonu a vydali se zpet do Pattayi.

Obed jsme opet moc neresili a rychly sandwich bylo vsechno co jsme potrebovali a ledova kava nas osvezila, protoze to byl opravdu velmi teply den. Nemohla jsem odolat a trochu jsem se vykoupala v mori, i kdyz plaz byla trochu prelidnena, ale i tak to bylo fajn. Breh byl navic poset velkym mnozstvim skeblicek, ktere se mi velmi hodili pro par veci, co jsem chtela vyrobit a tak jsem si mohla vybirat ty pekne, co se mnou pojedou domu. Chris sedel na plazi a uzival si slunicka. Kdyz jsme se oba nabazili, tak jsme se sli podivat co skryvaji mistni trhy a obchody. Bylo opet z ceho vybirat a ja jsem se vzhledla v jednech satech, ktere jsem nakonec usmlouvala z puvodnich 600 na 350 TBH a Chris zase nasel hodinky, co schanel uz od nasi navstevy Hong Kongu a jeste potreboval 8GB USB, ktere jsme pro zmenu koupili za celych 750 TBH.

Pak uz byl cas najit nase obvykle pohledy a vydat se zpet autobusem do pristavu. Cestou jsme jeste udelali par fotek a prevazne nas fascinovali ruzne obrovske svazky cernych kabelu, kterymi bylo vedeno vse od elektriky pres telefon, televizi, radio a internet. Opravdu celkem sileny pohled a urcite jste to videli na par fotkach co jsme nahrali, clovek si rika jak asi najdou problem, kdyz se neco rozbije. Po prijezdu do pristavu jsme meli jeste asi pul hodiny cas, takze Chris vyuzil mistniho internetu a dokonce se mu podarilo pres Skype zavolat asi na 5 minut domu. Ja jsem sla jeste omrknout velky obchod, co v terminalu byl a k tem satum jsme si nasla jeste thajske botky, takze to byl celkem uspesny nakupovaci den, snad se mi podari tu thajskou/asijsou modu uplatnit a nosit take v Evrope. Meli jsme opet za sebou velmi novy a zajimavy den plny nevsednich zazitku a chteli jsme si jit poradne odpocinout, protoze hned zitra nas cekala dalsi zastavka na Thajskem Ostrove Koh Samui, kde jsme si chteli uzit jen more a slunicko.

Laem Chabang, Thailand

After a long run of tender ports, we were glad to walk off the ship in our first of 2 ports in Thailand. The main attraction of coming here was it's relative closeness to Bangkok, but like Hanoi, the majority of the day would be taken up sitting on a coach, and so we decided to take advantage of a free shuttle service to the nearby town of Pattaya. Our plan for the day was to spend the morning at an "Elephant Village" and then see some of Pattaya in the afternoon. The shuttle gave us a quick orientation tour and then dropped us at a hotel in the centre of the town, one street back from the main beach. As we're getting closer to the equator again (in the Northern Hemisphere) it's getting progressively warmer and more humid. Today, the temperature started at about 26 and rose to about 32 degrees with very high humidity that constantly made you feel like you needed a shower!

First stop, a bank to get some money out. The Thai Baht is not the most stable of currencies, and so the ship doesn't carry any to change on board, like it does with most other countries. Mission accomplished, and feeling rich with a few thousand Baht obtained, we needed to find a taxi. There were a few parked along the busy road, but the drivers were nowhere to be seen. We approached an official looking taxi stand but they wanted to take us on a tour to a different "Elephant Village" for a great deal more money. We managed to get across exactly where we wanted to go and agreed a price too, but the taxi itself was not very official looking, and so rightly or wrongly, I decided to walk away. Katie wasn't entirely in agreement, but it didn't feel right. Back to square one, and I started to think we should have booked the official P&O tour. We flagged down an "official" taxi and agreed a price with the driver who evidently didn't understand where we wanted to go. We'd done our homework and knew it was only 5 miles outside Pattaya, but he still seemed to protest about how far away it was. Still, he got us there eventually, another magical mystery tour under our belts.

The Elephant Village/Sanctuary itself is located just outside Pattaya in a more rural location, and all of the animals here are rescued because they have at one time been sick or injured. It's well worth a visit if you're ever in the area. We paid the equivalent of 20 pounds each which covered our entry, some local drinks and fruit snacks and an hour long trek on the back of one of the elephants, you can also feed them bananas and get much closer to them than you would in a regular zoo. As I mentioned, there was an official tour heading this way in the afternoon, but in doing it ourselves, we saved about 30 pounds and gained a lot more flexibility in our day. The official tour also didn't include a trek, but instead a show, probably to accommodate the less able bodied members of the group.

Riding on the back of our elephant was really cool (I did ask her name, but I forget what it was). Our guide, who was riding up front, as we sat in a seat strapped to her back, took us in a big circular route, through some water which came up to the waist of the elephant, and through local farms and villages. A few people that we saw waved, but otherwise it was just us. Apart from the constant rocking from side to side and the odd squelching noise from behind us, it was very relaxing. Our elephant was very well behaved, only on one occasion at a water stop (for her, not us) did she decide to assert her authority and turned away sharply in defiance. Nearing the end of the tour, we caught up with a few more elephants which looked like they were being repositioned around the village. One took a liking to the bananas which Katie had next to her, and a stray trunk suddenly appeared over her shoulder, heading straight for the bag! He didn't manage to eat them all though, there were still some left for ours to eat once we had dismounted. In fact, she was so keen to polish them off that before Katie could take them out of the plastic bag, she swiped the whole lot, bag and all. Despite our frantic attempts to stop her, the bananas and bag went whole into her mouth. The staff saw the whole thing but it didn't seem to worry them as much as it did us. Apparently elephants can deal with that sort of thing. Still, I hope it was bio-degradable. After the ride, we had a chance to take photos with the newest addition to the village, which was a 4 month old baby. He came up to my waist, had a hairy head, and was very playful. As we stood next to him, we would head butt our legs and he tried to wrap his trunk around my ankle and lift my leg up!

We got a lift back to town from one of the staff members, it was cheaper than the taxi earlier and a lot more comfortable. He dropped us back at the hotel where the bus had left us earlier. We had a quick, practical lunch so as not to waste too much time and then took a stroll up and down the main road in Pattaya. Much of it was made up of street markets, and browsing them, we have discovered, is one of our favourite pastimes in this part of the world. Katie wanted to go in the sea, so we did that too, although the beach was fairly narrow and crowded.

It was hard not to notice that all around Pattaya, essentially a beach resort, a higher than normal percentage of lone men on the streets. Couples are the norm everywhere we've been, so their single presence was quite an oddity to us. All of them were of a certain age, and most looked like they lived there or were certainly accustomed to the climate and way of life. Maybe this is similar in the rest of Thailand, I don't know, but one can make some assumptions about why they were there in such numbers. It gave the place a rather seedy feel although it never made us feel uncomfortable...

...That was the job of the weather, and with no sign of the humidity or temperature relenting, we were quite glad to make our way back to the coach and then the ship. We managed to get some free WiFi at the port, but only for the 20 minutes or so that we had left before getting back on board. A big crowd of crew and passengers were all sat around, heads buried deep into their laptops, a sure sign of free Internet and a consequence of the expensive and very slow connection on board. As I've explained before, finding free connectivity is like finding a stack of 20s down the back of the sofa. It's not just me, honest!

Halong Bay, Vietnam

Halong Bay is a UNESCO World Heritage site, honoured as such, perhaps because of it's natural outstanding beauty. I am somewhat unclear on the true reason, because on our arrival we were lucky if we could see the other end of the ship, such was the dense fog between us and all of that natural beauty! We had anchored again, 5 minutes ride from shore and were tendered to a floating pontoon which itself was attached (in the loosest possible way) to Terra firma. Some places we have docked, lay on a grand welcome ceremony, sometimes music is being played, and often there are stalls selling local souvenirs, but setting foot onto Vietnamese soil we were greeted by a red piece of AstroTurf, a nice touch, and a few quizzical locals who appeared to find more interesting happenings on their finger nails. It only occurred to me as I sat down to write this, that the reason for this may have been that they could not actually see the huge ship anchored 5 minutes out into the bay. All the locals saw appearing from out of the mist was a small orange boat carrying 100 people wearing T-shirts proclaiming to have come from Hawaii, Aruba or Australia. In fact, I don't doubt that many of those logo'd T-shirts were actually coming back home!

Of course, please don't mis-understand me. I don't expect to be welcomed with song and dance, in fact sometimes it can be quite false and uncomfortable, but this welcome was such an amusing contrast to other places, that I thought I would mention it.

A large number of people were understandably heading on an organised trip to Hanoi, about 3 hours drive each way, but with the limited time we had here, we decided that 6 hours on a coach was not the right thing to do, and had opted to see some of the Vietnamese countryside instead. We were driven about an hour from the bay to visit a local pottery/ceramics factory, then visited the house of a local farmer and finally a Buddhist monastery in the hills. The stops were nice, informative and a great way to get a feel for the people and their way of life in this part of the country, but it was the travel between places that really opened our eyes and filled in the gaps between the polished, organised events. While I'm not really in a position to be passing political comment or making judgements, we were very aware of Vietnam's communist governance, and the possible impact this would have on what we saw and heard. The same was true in Hong Kong, when we were given a long and passionate address by the tour guide. He bestowed the benefits of being a part of China, and how the government had helped to bring about great change. It was a strange, and overly opinionated view for a tour guide to make public, usually they stick to the facts. Back to Vietnam, Katie had a chat with our guide whilst on the bus, and she too expressed a passion for her country and the way it was run. I'm happy if the views of these guides reflect those of the country at large, but the cynic inside of me still filtered it all first.

Instead of appearing like a patronising westerner who thinks everything in his or her own country to be best, I'll simply report what we saw instead of passing comment (at least for the next paragraph!) I think that part of the reason for my cynicism was because of what we saw through the windows of the coach. The road along which we travelled before we got into more rural areas, was almost entirely made up of poorly maintained concrete houses and shops, solid on 3 sides with an opening onto the road. They would continue for several miles before being interspersed with a few paddy fields (presumably as one town stopped and another started) and each paddy field would normally have people (usually women) bent over, tending to the crop. Litter was either lying at the side of the road, or had been collected or bagged up and placed in huge piles in front of these houses. Even as we passed over bridges, you could see the rubbish on the banks of the river below. The built up area ran purely alongside the road, that's to say it didn't go any further back than one house or shop and a large proportion of them were either selling fruit and vegetables or fixing motorbikes. Not surprisingly, bikes and motorbikes were the main form of transport. Most people, we were told, got a motorbike when they were old enough to ride it, if you were rich you might own 2 or 3. If you didn't have enough road sense to own a bike then you owned a car. With the exception of a few stretches which were 3 lanes wide, the roads were single carriageway, generally in good condition. I lost count of the number of times that I heard the sound of air being sucked through the teeth of the passengers at the front of the coach as they surveyed the road ahead. The horn was used copiously, and we worked out a rough system of 1 beep to say I'm overtaking you, 2 beeps when you were roughly alongside, and 1 again to announce that you were pulling back in, regardless of whether you were completely passed or not. If we were head-on with another vehicle coming the other way (which wasn't uncommon) a flash of your lights appeared to be the acceptable method of telling the other party that you intended to have priority and that the other should back down. For the party who was backing down, this was the time to use a single beep to indicate you were pulling in, regardless. Nevertheless, we didn't witness a single accident, and only a handful of near misses.

Once the joy ride was over and we were heading back towards the ship, we decided to get dropped off at what we were told to be a tourist market. In fact, as we discovered after the coach had pulled away, that it was really nothing to behold. We were a couple of miles from the "port" so we pointed in the right direction and with no more company than a main road on one side, and sea on the other, we took a stroll down a street in Vietnam. As you do. The bizarreness of it all wasn't lost on us and it wasn't for another 30 minutes or so that we saw anyone that might have passed as a tourist. Katie wouldn't miss the opportunity to touch The South China Sea either, but you wouldn't want to put your beach towel down. Unfortunately, it too was dirty and had rubbish scattered around. We witnessed people clearing it up, but we also witnessed a taxi driver throwing an empty drinks bottle out of his window and onto the pavement. You don't need rules and punishment to know that's not right, surely?

As we got closer to the ship, there was a large "night" market that was already open for business. It wasn't dissimilar to the type we had seen in Hong Kong, but most of the stalls sold very similar goods, and therefore most of the stall holders were a lot more pushy. We liked Hong Kong because we were left alone to browse, but here, much to our surprise and eventual amusement, the stall holders were more interested in the wicker bags we were already clutching from the ceramics factory. They wanted to know where we got them from, what they cost, and what was inside. The contents happen to be a present for someone, and a fragile one at that, so I was a little cautious of them manhandling it as they were.

Back at the tender embarkation point, we found that the fog had lifted a little, and we could make out more of the large atolls that poke up above the water, and give Halong Bay it's distinctive image. After the short tender, we headed straight for some food as we hadn't eaten all day save for some biscuits that Katie is stashing in my top drawer. As the sun went down, the ship stayed very still, and we discovered that the coaches from Hanoi had been delayed. Trevor and Jean were both on that trip so I rang their cabin and left a message to explain that the captain (actually we have a Commodore on board now - I'll write about that later) was charging them, per hour, for delaying our departure.

If it's possible to get a feeling for somewhere after visiting it for a single day then I'll say that we really enjoyed what we saw. It was very different to anywhere we've been yet on this trip, and I dare say anywhere we've been previous to this trip too. It's also made us reflect on the fact that we are very lucky to be seeing these places, but asking ourselves if we're really able to form an opinion about a country in which we've spent 8 hours. The obvious answer is no. We can like or dislike what we saw, but we're in no position to judge anything more than that. Imagine if you arrived by sea into Hull and presumed the whole of England was that bad :-)