Singapore

On our previous visit to Singapore, 19 years ago, we visited the Botanical Gardens, Sentosa Island and the Night Safari.

Today we went back to the Botanical Gardens to see the beautiful variety of orchids in the Orchid Garden. It was really hot walking around, 30c and very humid.

We then caught a taxi to take us to the  Hard Rock Cafe. This has been refurbished since our last visit and was much better.

After that we went to Raffles Hotel, arriving in a thunderstorm. No visit to Singapore is complete without a Singapore Sling. This time we enjoyed it in the Long Bar, complete with monkey nuts and shells on the floor!

A very good day.

Ho Chi Minh life

more Ho Chi Minh

Thien Hau Temple

Ho Chi Minh photos

Hi Chi Minh City

Ho Chi Minh City (or Saigon as it was formerly known and is still called by some people) is the largest city in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. It is located on the Saigon River near the Mekong Delta in the southern part of the country.

The ship is docked in Phu My today as the Queen Elizabeth cannot travel any further along the Saigon River as it is too shallow. It will take about a one and a half hour drive to get into Ho Chi Minh.

Saigon was captured by the French in 1859 and our 'Highlights of Ho Chin Minh' tour began with a visit to the French influenced Notre Dame Cathedral. It was built in 1870 and is smaller than it's namesake in Paris.

After a very nice buffet lunch in the Windsor Plaza Hotel, where we were entertained by musicians and dancers, we went to see the Reunification Palace. This was once the Presidential Palace and where, on 30th April 1975, liberation forces marked the end of the Vietnam War.

We then drove to the Thien Hau Temple. This is dedicated to the Protector of Sailors, the Chinese Sea
Goddess Mazu and then to a lacquer factory.

Our guide showed us around the Historical Museum before we watched a water puppet show and then on to see the statue of Ho Chi Minh.

The drive between these sights was equally entertaining as we had a good insight into how the Vietnamese live. Their major mode of transport is by moped of which there are approximately 8.5 million in a population of 10 million. Although they need to pass a test they tend to drive as they please. In what appeared to be the 'school run' we saw as many as five on a moped- two adults and three children.

Some of my photos have been taken from a bus so not particularly good!

A really enjoyable and insightful day.

Nha Trang photos

Nha Trang, Vietnam

Nha Trang is a holiday resort in Vietnam with a number of reasonable hotels but also quite popular with backpackers.

We are at anchor today so needed to tender ashore. It only took about 10 minutes and then a shuttle bus took us to one of the better hotels further into town.

It was very busy with locals on mopeds, many of them young women. There were a lot of vendors and hawkers trying to sell items like fake bags or wanting to take you on a tour in a pedicab. We took a stroll along the seafront and had a look around Dam Market but didn't stay too long.

It was very hot and humid so we were happy to get back to the hotel where the shuttle bus dropped us off to have a nice cold beer and to use their free wifi.

One day at sea relaxing before Vietnam. A couple of quizzes, a visit to the spa to have my nails done and dinner in the evening with the Hotel Manager, Robert Howie.  He's a really nice guy and there were also two other world cruise couples we know so we had a lovely evening.

Hong Kong Skyline

Hong Kong/Kowloon Park

Hong Kong

Hong Kong has been autonomous region of China since 1997. We previously visited in 2000 and 2008.
It has one of the most impressive skylines in the world. The harbour is full of sampans, junks, ferries and cargo ships. The total land area of Hong Kong is 424 square miles comprising Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the New Territories plus 260 outlying islands.

We arrived early morning to a rainy Tsim Sha Tsui in Kowloon. However the rain cleared before we went on shore.  We are so lucky to have our balcony facing the skyline of Hong Kong Island.

We stayed on Hong Kong Island in 2000 and were surprised how much it had changed when we returned to stay in Kowloon in 2008. It has changed again now and although we went back to Kowloon Park it wasn't anywhere near as nice as back then.

The Kowloon Hard Rock Cafe has closed down so we caught the Star Ferry over to Central and then a taxi to Hard Rock on HK Island. Enjoyed a couple of Mother's Day cocktails before returning.

After having a late lunch we went for a walk along the harbour viewing platform. The entry and exit to the cruise terminal is only possible by walking through Harbour City. It is Hong Kong's largest shopping mall and covers 2 million square feet and has 450 shops, nearly all designer stores.

At 8pm we watched the laser and light show over on Hong Kong Island. It is a daily event and lasts for ten minutes.

The old town and Yu Gardens

On the Bund in Shanghai