15.03.2019 Bangkok.
I took a taxi from the airport and checked into the T2 Residence Hotel in Sathorn. It was early so while I was waiting for the room to be available I had a wander around the nearby steamy streets and metro system to re-orientate myself. Then I had a long nap to recover from the overnight travel.
16.03.2019 Sathorn, Bangkok
It was a bit rainy today so I stayed in the hotel until late evening, then went for a wander around the streets. This area I’m in is a bit scruffy but very busy around the clock with street food vendors; restaurants; bars; convenience stores and massage parlours. A short walk away are several universities, embassies and huge office blocks so it’s probably relatively upmarket by local standards. I passed a security guard chasing a large snake in the street. I didn’t ask why. It’s that kind of place.
The street food looked good but too dangerous, so I found a fairly busy restaurant that looked safer. The waiter informed me very solemnly that they were not serving alcohol but I knew this in advance as there is a 24-hour total ban on election days. I bought some whisky and beers in a 7-eleven yesterday for this reason. I had king prawns with deep fried garlic. Stuff that it is best to have only when you are travelling alone. On the walk back I got a durian ice-cream. Durian smells like an open drain and that is not an uncommon odour hereabouts. I’m not sure if it neutralized the garlic or made it worse.
17.03.2019 Bangkok
I rented a car and drove to Laem Chabang to collect H then drove back to Bangkok and we checked into the Montien Riverside Hotel. We stayed in a massive suite in this hotel once before but we only booked a cheaper room this time on the grounds of cost. Even so, H talked them into a free upgrade as we are such good customers, and we ended up getting the same huge suite just three floors below the one we had last time. We ordered some Thai food on room service and watched the sun setting over the city and then watched The King and I on Youtube. Ha!
18.03.2019 Bangkok
We took the rental car back in the morning and got a taxi to Sathorn Pier to get a river bus upstream. We fought our way to the Grand Palace. I’ve been there before but it was a first for H. I’d forgotten that long pants and covered shoulders were obligatory and we had to do some shopping before they would let us in. We intended to do more but the heat and the crowds drove us back to the air-conditioning in the hotel .
Later, we had a dinner cruise booked through the concierge. I thought I was booking a small converted teak-wood rice-barge as described on the hotel’s website but this one turned out to be a big modern boat operated by White Orchid based at River City. I should have asked more questions. Fortunately, we had a table in quiet corner on the upper deck. The night-time Bangkok skyline is pretty amazing with it’s a mix of old temples and palaces combined with new tower block hotels and all of it brightly lit.
19.03.2019 Bangkok, Laem Chabang
Got a taxi from the hotel 130km to Laem Chabang Port to rejoin AIDAbella. We ate dinner in the sushi restaurant on board mit dem Kapitän.
20.03.2019 At Sea, Gulf of Thailand
Sailing between Laem Chabang, Thailand and Phu Mi, Vietnam
21.03.2019 Phu Mi Port, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Stayed on board and looked at the Mekong Delta across the Saigon River. It was too far to travel into the city for old people like us.
22.03.2019 At Sea, South China Sea
Sailing between Phu Mi and Da Nang, Vietnam
23.03.2019 Da Nang, Vietnam
An early start. H and I and Kapitän Erik took a mini-bus with a driver and guide. First stop was Sun World Ba Na Hills as we had heard there was a bridge there worth seeing. Ba Na Hills turned out to be stranger than expected as it was a kind of Vietnamese Disneyworld sat up on top of a mountain. It is reached by a 7km long cable car ride. There are 10 cable car systems altogether snaking across the forested hillside. At the top of the mountain is what they call the French Village. This is a collection of full-size French chateaux and cathedrals which look very realistic until you get close. Another cable car ride took us on to the Golden Bridge which was our main reason for coming here. This is a gold-coloured structure built as a sort of viewing platform and it is supported by a pair of giant hands. All very sureal.
Our next stop was the old town of Hội An. This is a well preserved, if a little touristy, example of a southeast Asian 15th-19th century trading port with a mix of Chinese shophouses and French colonial buildings. We had a huge Vietnamese lunch on the roof terrace of the Cargo Club restaurant overlooking the river. I had a cocktail called Hội An River which was worryingly the same green colour as the river water.
We drove on past some very nice looking beaches to the huge Lady Buddha statue and temple at Chùa Linh Ứng. We tried to reproduce a trick photo taken at the Christ the Redeemer in Rio last year where it seems like you are holding hands with the statue but it didn’t work. Too many praying Buddhists got in the way.
24.03.2019 At Sea, South China Sea
Sailing between Da Nang and Hong Kong
25.03.2019 Kai Tak, Hong Kong
26.03.2019 Kai Tak, Hong Kong
Up early and we got a taxi to the old British Empire relic of the Peninsular Hotel, Kowloon for breakfast. We had the full-Chinese of dim sum. Then it was a short walk to the Star Ferry pier and we jumped on a ferry to Wan Chai on Hong Kong island. It was a sort of homage to the scenes in The World of Suzie Wong movie which we watched last night. We had a very brief walk around in Wan Chai and returned on the next ferry.
We then had a look at some markets in Kowloon starting with the Jade Market then the Ladies Market (not what you think), the food stalls of Reclamation Street and clothing stuff in Temple Street.
We were on the forward crew deck for an after dark departure as we sailed eastwards through Hong Kong Harbour. There were hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of windows lit up on massive apartment blocks with the inscrutable faces of countless Hong-Kongers looking out at us over their dinners.
27.03.2019 Sea Day, South China Sea
Sailing between Hong Kong and Keelung, Taiwan
28.03.2019 Keelung, Taiwan
Took a taxi from the port to Jiuifen. This is an old mountainous gold mining area and now packed with shops and street food stalls. We took tea in the historic Jiuifen Tea House sat cross-legged in an antique wooden booth with a kettle on hot coals in the centre of the table. We were shown how to brew-up then left to deal with it ourselves. Loss of circulation in the legs brings the ceremony to a close.
29.03.2019 Ishigaki, Japan
A shuttle bus into town. Walked about a bit. Bought a bottle of saki then returned to the ship. Maybe the rest of the island is more interesting. Ishigaki is described as a beach and diving place with huge numbers of manta-rays to be seen in the summer. We will be back in a few days to re-evaluate.
The original Brexit Day has passed and the UK is still part of Europe. Long may it continue.
30.03.2019 Shanghai, China
Mostly a sea day but arrived in the mouth of the Yangtze and Huang Pu rivers after dark. We watched the spectacular night-time skyline of Shanghai come into view from the bridge.
31.03.2019 Gimpo, Seoul, South Korea
This was an unplanned new country. Visa-free travel restrictions in Shanghai have prevented me from staying on board. This is because to be considered in transit you have to depart to a third country. So arriving from Japan and departing to Japan doesn’t work. So I got a flight from Shanghai Hongqiao airport to Seoul Gimpo airport and stayed overnight in a hotel close to the terminal.
01.04.2019 Seoul to Shanghai
Arriving in Shanghai from Seoul, South Korea by air and departing to Ishigaki, Japan by ship should be considered visa-free travel by the Chinese. Predicting how things work in this part of the world is not easy.
02.04.2019 Shanghai
Moved into the Renausance Hotel with a view over the Shanghai skyline and night time lights. H had earlier picked up a stomach bug from street food that took the edge off the evening.
03.04.2019 Shanghai to Ishigaki, Japan
Sea day
04.04.2019 Ishigaki, Japan
Caught gastro-enteritis from somewhere. Quarantined in in my cabin for 24 hours. Didn’t get ashore.
05.04.2019 Keelung, Taiwan
Still under the weather so Keelung was also only observed through a porthole.
06.04.2019 Kaohsiung, Taiwan
We took a taxi to a relatively modern extravaganza of chinoiserie at Lotus Lake and the Dragon and Tiger Pagodas. Dashing in the mouth if the dragon and out of the mouth of the tiger is supposed to reverse bad fortune.
07.04.2019 Kowloon
We watched the light show over Hong Kong Island from the bar at the back of the ship the continued with more refreshments on the Captain’s balcony. It is hard to imagine a more spectacular cityscape or a better place to watch it from.
08.04.2019 Hong Kong
Left the ship today. It was a struggle packing. I took the bags to our hotel then returned to the ship to collect H and say our farewells.
09.04.2019 Hong Kong
We took a taxi from Wan Chai to Aberdeen on the south side of the island. A sampan to the Jumbo floating restaurant for lunch.
