Trekking the Globe with Bill & Mary Ann on the 2017 World Cruise - 126 Days

When I visited China 33 years ago there wasn't anything to buy. We had over 3 weeks touring and then a week in Hong Kong at the Regent Hotel. So a group of us took the ceramic yogurt containers from the hotel in Bejing and I bought pearls in Shanghai from a large department store that was basically empty. I went to walk the Great Wall & ended thinking the Terra Cotta Army was just as impressive.

Report #56 Xian toChengdu, China February 25, 2017 Saturday A little warmer as we head south Part #1 Of 2 85 Pictures

Up bright and early at an ungodly 3:30am, we checked out ofthe hotel rather quickly. Of course, noone else was up at that time in the morning. And it was a Saturday besides, and the commuters were gone for theweekend.

Lucy was right on time, and had arranged for us to get abagged breakfast. It contained a banana,apple, and three breakfast rolls. Waterwas in the bottom. Gave us something todo as we headed towards the airport. Aswe expected, there was little traffic on the freeway.

Arrived at the airport by 6:30am. So this is where all the local people weretoday……traveling for the weekend. As youenter any airport in China, you are contained in a small area, then a guardwill swipe your clothing and belongings with a cloth to detect anythingunusual. Once cleared, you are allowedto line up at the correct airline counter.

Following Lucy, we wound our way around the slower ones toget in a shorter line. We were flyingHainan Airlines this morning, and ended up in an expedited line for late comersand handicapped. Lucy handed us ourpassports back, and said to pretend we did not know her. If we were questioned about why we were inthis line, we were to claim we did not understand Chinese language. Yes, we certainly do not. No one asked, as we were obviouslytourists. We think being American, youare treated with more respect than being Chinese. They tend to move about aggressively andquickly, and if you are in the way, they’ll push past you. By the way, so far we have not had any IDnumbers attached to our airline reservations. All the info is tied to our passports. Once scanned, they have all of the information they need.

The only luggage we checked was the one bag, which weighed40 pounds according to a hand scale we bring with us. Must have passed, because it was tagged andaway it went. At this point, we said ourgoodbyes to Lucy, who had been a wonderful guide. She spoke English quite well and she alsospoke loudly…..we could hear her perfectly.

Going through the security check, we did not have to takeanything out of our hand carrys. Onlythe jacket and scarf had to come off, nothing else. Computers stayed in the case, and the shoescould remain on. We were each wanded andpatted down thoroughly.

There was a long walk to the gate, and we got there by7am. Sitting for a few minutes, werealized people were lining up already. OK, we get it, as we joined the line too. But the plane was not here, but somewhere outon the tarmac. A bus was waiting outsidefor us after we had our tickets scanned at the door. The bus must have gone over a mile before itstopped to let us out at a portable stairway. Two flights of stairs led us to the connection to the plane.

Our seats were near the front, a window and aisle. Once again, there was no organized plan to fillthe plane….you just came in and took your place. Seems to work better, instead of being loadedlast, then finding no space left in the overhead bins for your small bags.

This flight was 1 hour and 40 minutes, not enough time tofigure out the small ipad that each passenger had in their pouch. We had been given some nice earbuds, and weguessed they were for this device. Minekept shutting off….. perhaps a weak battery. Bill never touched his, because he used the time to work on photos.

It was hard to stay awake, since we had been on the go since3:30am with little breakfast. Abouthalfway into the flight, the stewardesses passed out what they called ahamburger. Not exactly the kind we know,but a sticky white rice top, a pancake with veggies in it, then sandwiched withsweet purple potato-flavored rice. Alsobottles of water were handed out. One of us tried the warmed rice snack, but itwas rather bland-tasting. If nothingelse, it was filling.

The landing at Chengdu was uneventful, touching down at10am. We followed the crowd to the baggagearea what seemed like miles away. Atleast these airports have free luggage trolleys to use. Need to mention a little hint at thispoint. Restrooms in China tend to be thehole in the ground. Few arewestern-style. However, if you locate ahandicapped stall, more than likely, it will be western….the commode we are accustomedto. Another hint? Bring extra tissues with you in case there isno TP. In many restrooms, you take theTP before entering the stalls. Sometimes, there is none.

It was unbelievable how crowded this airport was withinter-China travelers. Few peopleresembled us….foreigners. Outside theterminal, we found Susan, our new guide for Chengdu. She led us to our ride with a young lady asthe driver. Compared to the moreaggressive driver we had in Xian, she was much more cautious. Although, she was not afraid of using herhorn.

There was a change in plans for today, as we were told itwould be too far to take us to the hotel. And besides, we could not check in before 1 or 2pm anyway. We had been led to think our belongings mayhave been stored at the hotel, but this was not going to happen. Even though Susan promised us that the driverwould not leave or stuff unattended, we still did not like the idea. We had little choice but to lug some of thevaluables with us to the panda facility.

On the way out of the city, we encountered the worst trafficever. Perhaps there was an accident, butwhatever the reason, we were delayed another hour. It did give Susan the time to bring usup-to-date on the Sichuan Province and its capital, Chengdu. Susan was much more subdued than Lucy, so wereally had to listen hard to understand what she was saying.

Located in central China, this province is the most populousplace of China. Over 100 million peoplelive here. It is the most favorable foragriculture with warm summers and mild winters. The terraced rice plots can produced up to three crops a year. Because of surrounding mountains, greenhousegases and pollutants are trapped in an inversion layer. This area can get acid rains that canactually ravage mountain forests.

Other products here are oranges, mandarins, grapefruit,veggies, oil, sugar cane, camphor, raw lacquer, wax, tea, and finallybamboo. Mulberry trees are grown forfood for the silkworm industry. The western mountains are full of firs and deciduoustrees, but it is more famous for their giant panda bears. And that is why we are primarily here…..thepandas.

We arrived at the Giant Panda Breeding Base beforenoon. It is located not far from thecenter of the city in the northern suburb of Chengdu. Built on Futou Hill in 1990 and opened to thepublic in 1995, it is the only place in the world to see so many pandas upclose. It is not really a zoo, but aresearch facility to help preserve the species, which numbered only 1000 backin 2002. Also in 2002, there were onlyone dozen pandas there. Today there areover 70 of them….giant, lesser, and many youngsters. As well as various enclosures, this propertyhas a nursery for the babies, outdoor play areas for them, and even a kitchenwhere “panda cakes or bread” are prepared. These special bamboo cakes are fed to the pandas on a long bamboo stickby their handlers. They can get them tostand and beg for them we were told.

There is a veterinary hospital, a discovery center, amuseum, and a cinema. We did not haveenough time to see it all. What we didsee was the most fascinating animals from young ones to the older adults. Males can weigh well over 260 pounds, whilethe females run about 200 pounds. Theyare solitary animals, with the young staying with their moms until 18 months orso. The females come into season onlythree days out of the year, and are not always receptive to the males. Therefore, there is an in vitro process inplace to create more pandas. If thebabies are not cared for by the mothers, they are taken and hand-fed by thescientists. Only five young pandas havesurvived in the wild once released from here. The good news is that due to this facility, there are 1800 pandas in thewild now.

These animals live on bamboo….lots of it, since there islittle nutrition in it. Basically, whatgoes in, comes out near the same….undigested. So they spend most of their time eating. Bamboo plantations grow it about 55 km away from here. It is brought daily by truck. Although this entire park complex is full ofbamboo, it would not sustain the animals much more than three days.

Other animals here are red pandas, which are not pandas atall. They are related to raccoons, butmuch prettier than our North American version. They have a different diet of bugs, apples, small critters, and alsopanda cakes. Everyone gets their treatsdaily.

The hike through this park was basically uphill all the way…acombination of stairs and walkways. Since our time was limited, we had the option of taking the cuteelectric train back to the gate. Spending about 3 hours here was exhausting, but so worth it. Traffic going back to the hotel was not sobad.

We thought the Shangri-La hotels were wonderful, but we werenot prepared for what we found at the St. Regis Hotel in Chengdu. Elegant and opulent is anunderstatement. Located right in thecenter of the city, this property is stunning the minute you walk into thelobby. Our room was even better. Everything was state-of-the-art andspacious. Fit for a king and queen.

It was great to spend some down time from touring, and work onphotos (never-ending). Time was getting away from us, so we headed for a latelunch at their café. Turned out to bethe only meal of the day. We order awestern meal of hamburgers and fries. Aplate of fresh fruit was served while we waited, which was not long, since wewere among the only customers there this time of day. So far, these burgers were the most tasty ofall. And filling.

Back in the room, we took the time to figure out everythingthat was run by computers and remote controls. We’ll describe each room later, as nothing was typical here. We stayed up until 9am before we decided onsplitting an apple for dinner. By 10am,we called it quits and fell asleep instantly.

Tomorrow, we will head for the mountains on an all day tour.

Bill & Mary Ann

Awesome! That must be so much better than seeing them at the Beijing Zoo!

Report #57 Chengdu,China February 26, 2017 Sunday Chilly & smoggy all day Part#1 Of 3 86Pictures

We have to mention how nice this room at St. Regis is. Up on the 17th floor, we have asweeping view of the city and Tianfu Square. This has to be the most opulent hotel room we have ever had the chanceto utilize. All of the normal things arehere like free WIFI, upgraded toiletries, indoor and outdoor pools (who has thetime?).

The entryway lights up when you open the door, and theentire room comes alive like magic. Tothe left of the door, is a walk-in closet with hangar space, large safe, anddrawers. There is a two-way door for laundry to be done. You place your items needing cleaning in acloset with a lock. Then you push thebutton to inform them you need this service. Then it is accessed from the hallway with a keyed door. When done, it is returned the same way. That way, you are never disturbed with thedelivery.

On the right, is the bathroom with double sinks and a jettedbathtub. There are two shower doorsside-by-side. One is a spacious showerwith many water jets, large enough for perhaps 8 people, while the other doorreveals the commode. When you open thisglass door, the seat of the toilet automatically lifts. It is one of those electronic commodes withmany buttons to operate it. This unithas bidet qualities. It is self-flushingand self -cleaning. Wish we had one athome……a heated seat as well.

The ceiling in the bedroom is vaulted with a beautifulchandelier in the center. There arecrown moldings surrounding the bedroom ceiling. An extra-large flat screen TV rises across from the foot of the bed,controlled by remote, either in the nightstands or the typical hand-heldunit. Or we can even use the ipad thatis one the desk. It is skewed with ournames and room number, as is the TV screen.

There are wall-to-wall, floor to ceiling windows with sheersbehind the drapes. Both are controlledby remote buttons in the nightstands. Pretty cool.

In the room, there is a double-sized desk with two chairsand many useful items you might need at a desk. Finally, there is a cabinet that has a fully stocked bar with glassesand cups for drinks, beverages, and coffee or tea. There is a coffee maker anda bottle for brewing tea. All of thefixings are inside this cabinet. Complimentary bottles of water are left in the bathroom, the cabinet,and by our bedsides. We were advised touse ONLY bottled water for everything.

Turn down service has a gal that refills anything we hadused, cleans up the bathroom, and puts down foot mats with terry cloth slippersby our bed. A strange thing happenedyesterday afternoon. The power went offbriefly in the room, shutting down all the electricity. In trying to figure out how to turneverything back on, we touched a pad by the door. It must have alerted the “no disturb” signoutside, so the turn down girl had passed us up. Around 4pm, she came back, and indicated shewas here to do her job for the evening. She did not speak or understand English, so handed me a card with theseinstructions. Still confused, she calledthe supervisor who phoned us, asking for permission to allow her inside. No problem, we did and she was done within 10minutes.

Yesterday, we had finished almost all of the water, andnoticed we did not have plates or knives for cutting up the fruit. Someone from the café came and replenishedour water and brought silverware and plates. It’s going to be hard leaving here.

We got up early, even though we did not have to. Our guide said to meet her at 9:30am. That gave us plenty of time to have a hotbreakfast and coffee, before heading out for a two hour drive. Our destination was a city named Le Shan,about 96 miles from Chengdu. Not knowingwhat or where lunch was happening, we had eggs, bacon, sausage, little pastries,and the usual sides. It was all good,and it came free with the room.

Susan, our new guide, talked all about China and where wewere going today. She gave us some goodinfo about living here. Claiming thatmany of the younger people are leaving the farms for a different life, Susansaid that many of this generation want to live in the big cities, where theycan get better jobs. In order topurchase an apartment of 90 square meters, with a kitchen and bath, it takes asubstantial down payment. And the pricesare rising every day.

After leaving the city limits of Chengdu, we came onto a freeway with little traffic, sincetoday is Sunday. Once it was light, wewere surprised to see that the day was going to be dreary. The cause? Smog, heavy smog and it was not going anywhere. We could see reasons why once we got to theoutskirts of the city. It turnedindustrial, then agricultural. It wasnice to see trees, grape vines, canola oil plants (actually grown for rapeseed, the base for canola oil), and veggies of all kinds. A miracle they grow so well in this constanthaze.

At one point, it began to drizzle. It was heavy enough for our driver to washher windshield. As we drove towards LeShan, Susan talked all about the countryside and the fact that they raise pigs(for pork...the number 1 choice), cattle, sheep, chickens, and ducks. Since this province is land-locked, they donot eat tons of fish. Speaking of rain, we have read that it is acid rain,mixed with the pollutants. It hasnegative effects on the trees in these mountains, killing them. If we were outside, umbrellas would have beena good idea.

About halfway, we stopped at a complex set up for people onthe freeway. It is a rest stop with agas station, restaurant, teahouse, and restrooms. From here, there would be another ½ hour rideto get to the rivers and mountains.

Once there, we boarded a boat with our guide, and motored upthe convergence of three rivers to the face of the cliff where the Buddha iscarved. We all had to wear little lifejackets, which for the most part, did not fit over heavy jackets. One reason for this Buddha to be built was tostop boats from over-turning and people drowning. The story has it that adragon came out of the depths to pull boats under. Three rivers come together at this point andthe swirling waters were the reason many people drowned in this river, not anevil dragon

Our guide explained that when the idea of this Buddha cameup, the people at the time felt it was a great idea. They needed a protector from theundertow. It wasn’t so much that theGiant Buddha helped to save people, but more the debris that was dropped intothe river by carving this site. They were surprised to see how much the waterhad receded and calmed down by doing this project, although it took ninetyyears to complete.

More info on this site says that the first Buddhist templeswere up here, dating back to 713 AD. Thisgiant Buddha is 71 meters high, making him the largest carved Buddha in theworld. It can be seen across the river,as well as close up. Our river boatstayed right across from the entire wall of carvings, so we could get goodphotos. The height of the Buddha is 71 meters high, with each ear being 7meters long. That’s 21 feet or so. The Buddha’s hair is in ringlets, fashioned ina way to keep rain water off of his face, thus preventing erosion. The flow of water is channeled through thehair to his ears, which have holes cut for the water to drain like waterfalls.The effect is that he is crying when it is raining heavily. On either side of the Buddha were carvedarmored guards who are there to protect him.

A very steep series of stairs were cut out into thesandstone on either side of the statue. It was just as interesting watching the hordes of visitors filing downthese steep, uneven stairs. They weremoving rather slowly, especially the elderly ladies. The good thing with these tourists passingacross the lower patio where the Buddha’s feet were planted, was being able toget the scale of size between the carving and the people. Once past the massive statue, the folks hadto climb back up through a cave-like trail, once again, with steep stairs, allthe way to the top. Susan said sherarely takes clients down and up this path, since most people begin the descentonly to give up and turn back. And theline at the top, waiting to go down, can be hours long. Nope, we had the best view from the river,and that was just fine and dandy with us. Up close, the statue was impressive. Something mystical about it, especially whenwe noticed many people apparently praying to the Giant Buddha. Eventually, the boat went back to the dock andoffloaded all us after the 30 minute ride.

This time of year, the river is at its lowest. But we can only imagine that when the monsoonrains are in their peak, the level of this turbulent water is treacherous. There was a bank of sandy rocks in the centerof the confluence, but that is not seen during the high water season during thesummer months. This time of year, earlyspring, many cormorants, night herons, egrets, and gulls use these sandy banksto search for fish. When they spot theirprey, they dive from the banks. Noproblem with the current for them.

Back up to the main drive, we crossed the street and wentinto a nearby restaurant by the name of Deng Qing. Susan found us a table for two, where we wereserved a small cup of tea, then a bottle of Snow Beer, a local draft, followedby platters of Sichuan beef, peanut chicken, sauted canola stalks, and plainrice. All of the dishes were delicious,spicy with a nice sauce over them. Thetwo of us were the only foreign tourists in the establishment. In fact, we saw no tourists from othercountries at all, since this is not the prime season. Again, fine with us. Susan and our cute driver dined in anotherroom, then gathered us to go. She gaveus some time to explore the riverfront for more pictures. And a chance to pick up a little souvenir fora memento. One of these treasures theywere hawking on the street stands were pandas in all sizes. Since we missed the opportunity at the pandabase, this was a much better spot to find one. I was thinking little, but Bill found a medium sized female with a baby. We only had 100 yuan with us, which was worthabout $16. The vendor only wanted 30yuan, or close to $5 USD. Good deal.

Leaving Le Shan at 1:45pm, we went directly back to Chengduwith traffic that was flowing well. We madeanother pit stop on the way at the sister full service station across the roadfrom the first one.

We were back at the St. Regis by 4:30pm, where we watched agood movie while doing computer work. Seems that we are being able to receive and send emails through our Googleaccount. Don’t know if we mentionedthis, but a few days ago, there was a land slide very near our house thatforced them to close down the road indefinitely. The bad news is that this roadis the only reasonable way in and out of our area. Going further, you end up inanother city far from where you need to be. From the pictures our son sent, itappears that the main road was undermined and slipping over the edge of a cliffside. Further bad news was that the water company may be forced to shut off thewater main that feeds our homes beyond the closure. Suggesting that folks fillcontainers and bathtubs with water for toilet use is pretty scary. And not sustainable for long. Good thing we are here right now, and notthere. The birds should be OK for a fewweeks, and thanks to son Ken, he had just fed and watered them the day beforethe slide.

Susan had offered to make arrangement for an eveningactivity, such as a performance or theater, or even shopping. We declined, because our wonderful room wasmore preferable to running around the city. You can only “burn the candle at both ends” for a short time, then, yes,you run out of energy. Perhaps when wewere in our thirty’s, we could do it all without hesitation. Of course, back then, we did not have thetime to do it.

We went to dinner on the fourth floor of the hotel. You have a choice of buffet or a fixedmenu. We chose the menu to order Caesarsalads and a shared pizza, made to our choice of three toppings. Meals are not cheap in hotels, no matterwhere you go. This one with a bottle ofwater, ran about 352 yuan, or about $50USD. By the way, all major credit cards have been accepted at the hotels weused.

Tomorrow the plan is to sleep in a little later, then afterbreakfast, meet with Susan and our driver at 9:15am for our ride to the airportand the next flight to Guilin. Lookingforward to it.

Bill & Mary Ann

Report #57 Chengdu,China February 26, 2017 Sunday Chilly & smoggy all day Part#1 Of 3 86Pictures

 

We have to mention how nice this room at St. Regis is. Up on the 17th floor, we have asweeping view of the city and Tianfu Square. This has to be the most opulent hotel room we have ever had the chanceto utilize. All of the normal things arehere like free WIFI, upgraded toiletries, indoor and outdoor pools (who has thetime?).

 

We went to dinner on the fourth floor of the hotel. You have a choice of buffet or a fixedmenu. We chose the menu to order Caesarsalads and a shared pizza, made to our choice of three toppings. Meals are not cheap in hotels, no matterwhere you go. This one with a bottle ofwater, ran about 352 yuan, or about $50USD. By the way, all major credit cards have been accepted at the hotels weused.

 

Bill & Mary Ann

Sounds like you were really pampered in your stay at St. Regis!

Report #58 Chengduto Guilin, China February 27, 2017 Monday Cloudy & 50 degrees Part #1Of 2 Pictures

Seems as if we just closed our eyes, drifting off to sleep,and it was time to get up. Theseover-size beds were so comfortable with the sheet-covered duvets, that it wouldhave been nice to spend more time sleeping in them.

Opening the drapes, we saw that it was going to be anothermonochromatic gray day – pollution at its best (or not). In the daily newspaper, there is the forecastfor the major cities in China. Thesymbols are cloudy, drizzle, dust, fog, haze, overcast, rain, shower, snow,storm, thunderstorm, and lastly….sunny. Few places are labeled sunny in the part of the world. The “dust” forecast comes when there are sandstorms, which are common during high winds.

We went to breakfast by 6:30am. He food was fresh and hot, and mostlyuntouched yet. We prefer to start theday early, giving us more time to re-pack and do some emailing. Nice to take advantage of the free WIFI whilewe are off of the ship.

Re-packing was easy, even with the addition of our new pandabears. Once again, in hind sight, itwould have been better to have taken two medium size duffels, thus splittingthe weight between the two. Leavingextra room for heavy jackets would have been nice. We were both allowed 44 pounds, and we neverwould have brought that much. Anyway, wedid bring a hand-held scale, and it has helped immensely keeping us under the44 pounds.

Our guide Susan was early and waiting for us in thelobby. Once we checked out, we were onour way with little traffic to the airport. We arrived there within ½ hour, where we said goodbye to our nice younglady driver. Her name was so long, wenever did hear it correctly. Susan escorted us to the counter with the shortestline. Taking our passports, she securedseats 18 d and e, aisle and next to.

Before going through security, we said goodbye to Susan, whohad been a wonderful guide. What’s niceis that she was just as interested in learning from us, as we were fromher. She added that she was sorry to seeus leave, because we had gotten into some good conversations about family life,health care, the stock markets, and even religions. Normally conversations avoided, she seemed tovalue our thoughts as well as sharing hers.

Security was easy, since we have gotten the hang ofseparating the things we should put in the checked bag and the stuff in ourhand carry ons. Once again, we couldleave our shoes on, but the jackets had to come off. Computers could stay in the case, but camerasneeded to be out of their case. Thecamera bag had to be scanned twice. Wewere then wanded, patted down, and free to go. We passed once again.

Forgot to mention, while entering the security in Xian’sairport, there were large plastic tubs for dumping all liquids fromcontainers. Most everyone in China packsa drink bottle or thermos with them all day. They are mostly filled with tea. Now at this airport today, we spotted waterstations where people can get cold, warm, or hot water for brewing their teaagain. What a great idea.

Our flight had been scheduled for an 11:45am departure, butby the time we arrived to the gate, it had been delayed until 12:45pm. Now theboarding time was 12:20pm. Not bad, butexpected this time of year, as bad weather can delay many flights. This was an opportunityto work on captioning photos while waiting. Never a dull moment.

Also a good time to buy some coffee at a KFC. Actually Coke sounded better, but they didnot sell it. Strange huh? We only had 50 yuan ($15USD). So we were not sure how much the coffees cost. No one at KFC spoke English. In fact, we saw absolutely no other touriststhat looked like us. Good luck hadfollowed us, since a nice lady next to us, helped translate what wewanted. We ended up with two coffeelattes, and got change back too.

The final boarding time was adjusted to 12:10pm, and oncethe gate opened up, the people fell into line. We were in the middle of this line. It was so much easier boarding this way. Forget the group numbers. Takingnotice of what people carried on the plane, we realized they traveled lightly,checking in any large bags. The overheadbins were not full.

To our surprise, a lunch was served on the flight. Not sure what the main was, but it did comewith a sticky rice. The meal looked likevegetarian, tofu, or fish in a sauce. Fish it was. It also came with asoft white roll and a most tasty pound cake. Yum. Ice cold orange juice wasour choice of drinks.

The temps in Guilin were 13 Celsius, or 55 F. It must have rained because the tarmac wasfull of puddles. At least this is a muchsmaller airport with not a long way to go to find the baggage area. Our bag came quickly, and we were off to findour driver. At the exit, our luggage tag was checked to match the one on ourback. A fellow by the name of Jeremy, ourguide, led us outside to find our driver. His name is Hi. We were on ourway to Guilin by 2:30pm.

Jeremy began his description of Guilin and the surroundinglimestone mountains. We can get intomore details once we are on the river boat tomorrow. We shall see the limestone mountains and thearea that is named “karst” for its unusual landscape.

Most of the modern high rise towers of apartments were builtnear the airport. The older city ofGuilin was more country than big city, filled with trees like osmanthus(cassius), camphor, ginko, and palm trees. We like that even better. So didPresident Richard Nixon when he visited here in 1972. He stated that among all of the cities he andhis wife visited in China, Guilin was his favorite. Also his favorite……Peking duck.

Weaving through the narrow streets in town, we crossed abridge that reminded us of the Golden Gate in SF, only much, much smaller. We thought it crossed over a river, but wasin fact, a moat left over from a previous dynasty in 970 AD. We arrived at the Shangri-La Hotel, which isbuilt on a hill overlooking the river.

Getting here by 3:30pm, Jeremy helped us check in. He will be back tomorrow at 8:15am to pick usup for our tour on the Li River. Laterin the evening, we will be going to Impressions, a show on the river. We had some confusion as to whether we wouldbe coming back to the hotel after the river tour, or staying out for 5 hours,then go to the show. We prefer to stickto our original plan, even if it means driving for 2 extra hours. The show starts at 7:45pm, and we would needto have dinner before we go, preferably at the hotel. So we shall see.

We settled into our room at the hotel, which is only 7 yearsnew. It has the largest rooms availablein all of Guilin, we read. The room isnicely laid out, but cannot hold a candle to the St. Regis. However, it is as good as it gets here. We felt we were short of bottled water andbath towels, so one phone call took care of that. All was delivered within minutes.

Connecting to the internet, we keep our fingers crossed thatit will continue to work. Needing someexercise, we walked around the outdoor garden that surrounded the pool andanother large pond with a fountain. Weeven came across a mini-zoo in the back corner. We saw ducks, black swans, peacocks, ringneck pheasants, koi carp,chickens, and some rabbits. But thecutest animals were two friendly piglets, and one tiny pig. Of course, they were the only smelly ones, that’swhy we don’t raise any. Now the biggestdisplay housed a pair of ostrich. Really? We wisely did not get tooclose to them, as they can be aggressive.

Dinner for us was in the Li Café inside the hotel. A most friendly chef invited us to have asalad from the salad bar while we waited for the burgers and fries. Coke Zero really hit the spot, as we havebeen soda-deprived for days now. Wefinished the meal with small ice cream sundaes, vanilla topped with chocolatesauce, slivered almonds, and shaved chocolate. Price-wise, this was the most affordable meal so far on this excursion.

Bill & Mary Ann

Bill and Maryann,

As always, thank you so much for your in depth perspective on your journeys!!

I know what it is like to be deprived of something like soda🤗

Stay healthy!

Denise :)

Bill and Mary Ann, what an awesome description of your trip to Chengdu, and especially to the St. Regis ... perhaps a destination in itself. I cannot believe the over-the-top gadgetry and elegance of your hotel room. Unbelievable luxury, and in the Middle Kingdom, no less. Thank you for taking the time to write these splendid descriptions of your excursions. It's an eye-opener for me (and I have been to China many times).

So enthralling !!! Following !

Thanks so much for all the wonderful photos and information on your overland trip. The Terra Cotta Warrior images are just incredible. The pandas so adorable. The Buddha was huge!!

We are looking forward to your trip up/down the Li River.

Cheers, Denise and Howard

Thanks for all of your fantastic comments.......makes our day!

In re-reading our reports, we are noticing that many words are running together, and some really strange symbols are showing up in unexplained places. We are not doing this, so there must be a gremlin in the works.

Will try to figure out what is happening here, and hopefully correct it.

Stayed tuned.....more to come,

Bill & Mary Ann

Thanks for all of your fantastic comments.......makes our day!

 

In re-reading our reports, we are noticing that many words are running together, and some really strange symbols are showing up in unexplained places. We are not doing this, so there must be a gremlin in the works.

 

Will try to figure out what is happening here, and hopefully correct it.

 

Stayed tuned.....more to come,

 

Bill & Mary Ann

It isn't you! I guess it isn't gremlins either.

;) Here is a thread that ran the other day.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2462485

Cheers, Denise

Report #59 Guilin,China February 28, 2017 Tuesday Drizzle and still cool Part#1 Of 3 Pictures

Guilin is located in the Guangxi Zhuangzu Zizhiqu AutonomousRegion. It is not a province, like theother places we have visited so far, and it is home to over 40 million people. Guilin has become another one of China?s foremost destinations and is in line withBeijing, Shanghai, and Xian. The nameGuilin actually means osmanthus or cassia tree forest. They are planted everywhere in and out of thecity. Guilin was founded in 214 BC.

Much of this area is agricultural where water buffalo arestill used to plant and harvest the rice, which is their main crop. So is sugar cane, Chinese dates (jujube), andpeppers to mention a few things. Thecity was razed by the Japanese in 1944, but rebuilt through money from tourism. Restaurants serve fish, eel, frog, turtles,snails, shrimp, and snakes. Hungry yet?

Over 3 million years ago, limestone formations pushedthrough the sea bed, then rain and wind eroded the hills leaving caves andgrottos. What is most impressive is thefact that the jutting peaks, mounds, and spires left created what is called the?karst?. The definition in Webster?sdictionary describes the karst as a limestone region marked by sinks, abruptridges, irregular protuberant rocks, caverns, and underground streams. Out of sight, are the deeper caves that havestalagmites and stalagtites.

The Li River (or locally known as Li Jiang), runs throughthese mountains, as well as the city of Guilin. The scenery is surreal, as we would find out later this morning. This area was a sleepy city of over onemillion locals until tourism took hold in the late 70?s. Perhaps what called attention to here was thefact that President Nixon and his wife came here back then, in an attempt tonormalize relations between the US and China. Back then, what he would have found was asubtropical area with Vietnam on its border. The summers are hot and humid with tons of rain, while the spring andautumn are the best times to visit. His visit left a very positive impression withthe Chinese people.

We did not hear the alarm go off at 4am this morning. We ended up getting up around 4:45 am, butstill had enough time to grab breakfast before our pick-up time of 8:15am. There were many items to choose from at theirbuffet. Not knowing what kind of lunchto expect, we had omelettes, bacon, ham, pastries, yogurt and orangejuice. Turned out to be a wisedecision.

The weather was not exactly cooperating this morning,because it was wet outside. As we drovethe 40 to 50 mile ride to the Mopan Hill Wharf, it began to drizzle inearnest. This would not be good fortaking photos, especially with the good camera. We kept our fingers crossed that the rain would stop.

The Li River is not a large river, but a rather small one,especially this time of year when the water level is low. It is only 40 to 50 feet above sea level, sothe current is not massive. To see thebest part of the river that flows through the karst, we would be traveling 40miles downstream. What were we going tosee? Jeremy promised that there would bemountain goats, oxen, water buffalo, eagles, kites, hawks, crows, cormorants,and ducks. If we looked hard, we mightsee the colorful little kingfishers.

In the lower part of the river, we would spot rice fields,and veggies plot planted with eggplant, tomatoes, corn, beans, soy beans, peanuts,and the tufu bean. Fruit trees can linethe river as well as grapes and wheat in the northern areas.

The sun was hiding behind the cover of clouds and a strangemist that shrouds the spires and mounds of the limestone peaks. At least by the time we boarded the riverboat at 9:30 am, the light rain hadstopped. Lucky.

Jeremy went to get our tickets, then we went throughsecurity similar to the airport?s screening. The tickets are sold randomly, so you do not have a choice where your seatassignment is. First come, firstserved. We found our seats on the lowerdeck which was inside with a rectangular table for eight. Maps of the river ride were scattered on allof the tables. We had window seats, withour guide sitting next to us. Billimmediately went to the upper deck, which was opened for viewing the entireriver. Sort of knew he would not be comingback inside.

While the two of us sat there, Jeremy had to keep peoplefrom crowding our tables. He said that if seats are not occupied, they willmove in and begin a game of cards for the ride. The cabin got so noisy with the people doing this that we eventuallywent up to the top deck as well. By theway, we had been given bagged lunches to eat, instead of having the lunch whichwas served onboard. Jeremy said he knew wewould not like the food, since it could include those snails, and other exoticfood. More of a concern was about thecleanliness of it, as we spotted the cook and his helpers purchasing producefrom boats passing by the riverboats. They were washing lettuce in tubs with what may have been riverwater. We even saw a man pounding somekind of meat on the back deck, right on the floor. No, we will stick to thehotel lunch, thanks.

The river scenery was so fascinating, that we stayed up topfor the entire four hour ride. Good thing we wore our down jackets, becauseit was bone-chilling cold and breezy. Wehad left with an armada of boats, that followed each other in a convoy totaling17. We were number 16, so we got good photosof this convoy. Truthfully, the boatswith people added some nice color to a rather gray scene. This ride only goes one way down the riverwith passengers. Once they reach the40 miles drop off point, they make theirway back upstream.

There was a spot about half way, where you could take a muchshorter ride to the end. You could seesome of the famous spires, but also have the chance to watch the localfishermen with their cormorants fishing for their owners. In the past, these black water birds reliedon catching fish to survive. Chinesefishermen were clever?..they trained these birds to fish for them, more thanlikely, from a young age. The birds aretethered by their foot to a pole. Whenthey are set loose to dive for fish, a string is tied around their necks toprevent them from swallowing the fish. Of course, keeping the birds hungry is the trick. Once the fisherman has his quota, he hand feedshis birds with small fish, a few at a time. The rafts that the men used centuries ago weremade from a large bamboo, and they navigated them with a long stick. Today, all of these rafts are constructedwith 4 inch plastic PVC, painted blue or turquoise, and motored with a handheld small outboard motor. Furnishedwith an overhead canopy, these durable, but simple, rafts cost about $2000 USD.And probably will last longer than the native bamboo ones. The biggest concentration of these rafts withfishermen was at this spot in the river, where tourists pay to watch the birdsdive. With the onset of tourism, thesefellows do not make their living fishing this way much anymore. On a side note, we also have some of thesecormorants that dive for fish in or local park areas. Always a pleasure to watch their antics.

While we were here at this part of the river, our guidementioned that many of the US presidents had visited the river here over theyears.

While we were up on the top of the boat, several extendedfamily members came up to take group photos. They love to pose for pictures, and we mean ?pose? as in strike apose. We simply stand straight andsmile, while they are much more animated. Jeremy mentioned that it was only recently that women were allowed toexpress themselves openly. Now they loveit.

Before the boat ride ended, a family came over to us andindicated that they wanted to take photos with us. Not a word of English was used, but we gotthe idea anyway. It was really a niceexperience and no harm in it we guess. We may end up on ?wechat? tomorrow,their version of facebook, banned here. The ladies took turns posing with me, whilethe men liked standing next to Bill. Shaking our hands, they left saying ?xie-xie?, meaning thank you?.. anew phrase we learned today. Later on inthe day, we would have a chance meeting with these folks once again.

The boat ride ended at Yangshuo, where we disembarked alongthe riverbank. Meeting us at the drop-offwere a couple of vendors selling bags of kumquats, a fruit we would try lateron. It had been a wonderful ride on thisriver, which has been described a green ribbon winding through thousands of grotesquepeaks. We can see why poets, writers,and artists have found this mysterious area a place to cherish and visit often.

It was about 1:30pm, and we were supposed to spend some timein the village of Yangshuo. Once up top,there was a covered street that seemed to go on for miles. It was full of souvenirs tables witheverything Chinese you can imagine. Aswe had brought very little yuan with us, we did not even ask if the vendorstook US dollars. With our house alreadylooking like a museum of treasures, we did not even consider adding more to themix.

Glad we did not have to stay here for 6 hours, waiting to goto the evening performance we had on the itinerary. So we had our guide drive us back to Guilinand our hotel for a couple of hours. This was a glitch in the itinerary that we were not happy with. Our guide was reluctant to go back for thehour and a half drive, but it worked better for us. The best part of the tour was the river, andnot a village of shops and restaurants that included local cuisine, but alsoKFC, Pizza Hut, and many other fast food vendors. Too touristy for us.

The ride back through the countryside was just asinteresting. We could see the farmlandsof veggies, fruit trees, and kumquat orchards, all set in between the limestonemountains. A truly eerie, but serenesetting.

We were back to the hotel by 3:30pm. Since we had munched on our bag lunches onthe way back, we did not need to eat lunch in the hotel. The lunch had included a sandwich of unknowncontents, which we did not consume. Butthere were chips, sweet rolls, fruit, and waters to fill us up. There was even a Dove Bar, which was so good.

We used the time to do photos and continue notes for theblog. We met our guide at 5:30pm for thenext part of our evening tour. And thatwill be in the following report.

Bill & Mary Ann

Bill and Mary Ann,

Such reminders of the past for us!

Love your writings!!

Remember I said to stay healthy!

Good call on those unknown bag lunches!

look forward to more!

Take care,

Denise:)

Thanks for all of your fantastic comments.......makes our day!

 

In re-reading our reports, we are noticing that many words are running together, and some really strange symbols are showing up in unexplained places. We are not doing this, so there must be a gremlin in the works.

 

Will try to figure out what is happening here, and hopefully correct it.

 

Stayed tuned.....more to come,

 

Bill & Mary Ann

No problem reading your fantastic reports , even with the run ons. you are a very talented writer. Thanks so much for taking us along on another one of your world cruises.

Report #59 Guilin,China February 28, 2017 Tuesday Drizzle and still cool Part#1 Of 3 Pictures

 

Guilin is located in the Guangxi Zhuangzu Zizhiqu AutonomousRegion. It is not a province, like theother places we have visited so far, and it is home to over 40 million people. Guilin has become another one of China?s foremost destinations and is in line withBeijing, Shanghai, and Xian. The nameGuilin actually means osmanthus or cassia tree forest. They are planted everywhere in and out of thecity. Guilin was founded in 214 BC.

 

Much of this area is agricultural where water buffalo arestill used to plant and harvest the rice, which is their main crop. So is sugar cane, Chinese dates (jujube), andpeppers to mention a few things. Thecity was razed by the Japanese in 1944, but rebuilt through money from tourism. Restaurants serve fish, eel, frog, turtles,snails, shrimp, and snakes. Hungry yet?

 

Over 3 million years ago, limestone formations pushedthrough the sea bed, then rain and wind eroded the hills leaving caves andgrottos. What is most impressive is thefact that the jutting peaks, mounds, and spires left created what is called the?karst?. The definition in Webster?sdictionary describes the karst as a limestone region marked by sinks, abruptridges, irregular protuberant rocks, caverns, and underground streams. Out of sight, are the deeper caves that havestalagmites and stalagtites.

 

The Li River (or locally known as Li Jiang), runs throughthese mountains, as well as the city of Guilin. The scenery is surreal, as we would find out later this morning. This area was a sleepy city of over onemillion locals until tourism took hold in the late 70?s. Perhaps what called attention to here was thefact that President Nixon and his wife came here back then, in an attempt tonormalize relations between the US and China. Back then, what he would have found was asubtropical area with Vietnam on its border. The summers are hot and humid with tons of rain, while the spring andautumn are the best times to visit. His visit left a very positive impression withthe Chinese people.

 

We did not hear the alarm go off at 4am this morning. We ended up getting up around 4:45 am, butstill had enough time to grab breakfast before our pick-up time of 8:15am. There were many items to choose from at theirbuffet. Not knowing what kind of lunchto expect, we had omelettes, bacon, ham, pastries, yogurt and orangejuice. Turned out to be a wisedecision.

 

The weather was not exactly cooperating this morning,because it was wet outside. As we drovethe 40 to 50 mile ride to the Mopan Hill Wharf, it began to drizzle inearnest. This would not be good fortaking photos, especially with the good camera. We kept our fingers crossed that the rain would stop.

 

The Li River is not a large river, but a rather small one,especially this time of year when the water level is low. It is only 40 to 50 feet above sea level, sothe current is not massive. To see thebest part of the river that flows through the karst, we would be traveling 40miles downstream. What were we going tosee? Jeremy promised that there would bemountain goats, oxen, water buffalo, eagles, kites, hawks, crows, cormorants,and ducks. If we looked hard, we mightsee the colorful little kingfishers.

 

In the lower part of the river, we would spot rice fields,and veggies plot planted with eggplant, tomatoes, corn, beans, soy beans, peanuts,and the tufu bean. Fruit trees can linethe river as well as grapes and wheat in the northern areas.

 

The sun was hiding behind the cover of clouds and a strangemist that shrouds the spires and mounds of the limestone peaks. At least by the time we boarded the riverboat at 9:30 am, the light rain hadstopped. Lucky.

 

Jeremy went to get our tickets, then we went throughsecurity similar to the airport?s screening. The tickets are sold randomly, so you do not have a choice where your seatassignment is. First come, firstserved. We found our seats on the lowerdeck which was inside with a rectangular table for eight. Maps of the river ride were scattered on allof the tables. We had window seats, withour guide sitting next to us. Billimmediately went to the upper deck, which was opened for viewing the entireriver. Sort of knew he would not be comingback inside.

 

While the two of us sat there, Jeremy had to keep peoplefrom crowding our tables. He said that if seats are not occupied, they willmove in and begin a game of cards for the ride. The cabin got so noisy with the people doing this that we eventuallywent up to the top deck as well. By theway, we had been given bagged lunches to eat, instead of having the lunch whichwas served onboard. Jeremy said he knew wewould not like the food, since it could include those snails, and other exoticfood. More of a concern was about thecleanliness of it, as we spotted the cook and his helpers purchasing producefrom boats passing by the riverboats. They were washing lettuce in tubs with what may have been riverwater. We even saw a man pounding somekind of meat on the back deck, right on the floor. No, we will stick to thehotel lunch, thanks.

 

The river scenery was so fascinating, that we stayed up topfor the entire four hour ride. Good thing we wore our down jackets, becauseit was bone-chilling cold and breezy. Wehad left with an armada of boats, that followed each other in a convoy totaling17. We were number 16, so we got good photosof this convoy. Truthfully, the boatswith people added some nice color to a rather gray scene. This ride only goes one way down the riverwith passengers. Once they reach the40 miles drop off point, they make theirway back upstream.

 

There was a spot about half way, where you could take a muchshorter ride to the end. You could seesome of the famous spires, but also have the chance to watch the localfishermen with their cormorants fishing for their owners. In the past, these black water birds reliedon catching fish to survive. Chinesefishermen were clever?..they trained these birds to fish for them, more thanlikely, from a young age. The birds aretethered by their foot to a pole. Whenthey are set loose to dive for fish, a string is tied around their necks toprevent them from swallowing the fish. Of course, keeping the birds hungry is the trick. Once the fisherman has his quota, he hand feedshis birds with small fish, a few at a time. The rafts that the men used centuries ago weremade from a large bamboo, and they navigated them with a long stick. Today, all of these rafts are constructedwith 4 inch plastic PVC, painted blue or turquoise, and motored with a handheld small outboard motor. Furnishedwith an overhead canopy, these durable, but simple, rafts cost about $2000 USD.And probably will last longer than the native bamboo ones. The biggest concentration of these rafts withfishermen was at this spot in the river, where tourists pay to watch the birdsdive. With the onset of tourism, thesefellows do not make their living fishing this way much anymore. On a side note, we also have some of thesecormorants that dive for fish in or local park areas. Always a pleasure to watch their antics.

 

While we were here at this part of the river, our guidementioned that many of the US presidents had visited the river here over theyears.

 

While we were up on the top of the boat, several extendedfamily members came up to take group photos. They love to pose for pictures, and we mean ?pose? as in strike apose. We simply stand straight andsmile, while they are much more animated. Jeremy mentioned that it was only recently that women were allowed toexpress themselves openly. Now they loveit.

 

Before the boat ride ended, a family came over to us andindicated that they wanted to take photos with us. Not a word of English was used, but we gotthe idea anyway. It was really a niceexperience and no harm in it we guess. We may end up on ?wechat? tomorrow,their version of facebook, banned here. The ladies took turns posing with me, whilethe men liked standing next to Bill. Shaking our hands, they left saying ?xie-xie?, meaning thank you?.. anew phrase we learned today. Later on inthe day, we would have a chance meeting with these folks once again.

 

The boat ride ended at Yangshuo, where we disembarked alongthe riverbank. Meeting us at the drop-offwere a couple of vendors selling bags of kumquats, a fruit we would try lateron. It had been a wonderful ride on thisriver, which has been described a green ribbon winding through thousands of grotesquepeaks. We can see why poets, writers,and artists have found this mysterious area a place to cherish and visit often.

 

It was about 1:30pm, and we were supposed to spend some timein the village of Yangshuo. Once up top,there was a covered street that seemed to go on for miles. It was full of souvenirs tables witheverything Chinese you can imagine. Aswe had brought very little yuan with us, we did not even ask if the vendorstook US dollars. With our house alreadylooking like a museum of treasures, we did not even consider adding more to themix.

 

Glad we did not have to stay here for 6 hours, waiting to goto the evening performance we had on the itinerary. So we had our guide drive us back to Guilinand our hotel for a couple of hours. This was a glitch in the itinerary that we were not happy with. Our guide was reluctant to go back for thehour and a half drive, but it worked better for us. The best part of the tour was the river, andnot a village of shops and restaurants that included local cuisine, but alsoKFC, Pizza Hut, and many other fast food vendors. Too touristy for us.

 

The ride back through the countryside was just asinteresting. We could see the farmlandsof veggies, fruit trees, and kumquat orchards, all set in between the limestonemountains. A truly eerie, but serenesetting.

 

We were back to the hotel by 3:30pm. Since we had munched on our bag lunches onthe way back, we did not need to eat lunch in the hotel. The lunch had included a sandwich of unknowncontents, which we did not consume. Butthere were chips, sweet rolls, fruit, and waters to fill us up. There was even a Dove Bar, which was so good.

 

We used the time to do photos and continue notes for theblog. We met our guide at 5:30pm for thenext part of our evening tour. And thatwill be in the following report.

 

 

Bill & Mary Ann

Loved your narration again!! We had just watch a special in the fishing birds you described. I do have a question for you... did you arrange your weeks tour off the ship or go through a travel company? I would like to know how you arranged it. Maybe I missed that somewhere in the blog. Thank you again for the virtual tour !!!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Report #60 Yangshuo,China Impressions February 28, 2017 Tuesday Drizzle & cool Part #1 Of 3 Pictures

The best was yet to come. While sharing a weekly breakfast with cruising friends at home, thesubject of Guilin came up, as they had previously did the tour there while on acruise. They stressed that while we wereon tour there, we must go see the evening performance of Impressions out ofGuilin. So we had that added to our itinerary. And so glad we did.

Located in Yangshuo at the junction of the Li and theTiangiahe Rivers, is the performance of Impressions, created by Liu Sanjie, thecreator of the Beijing?s 2008 Olympics Opening Ceremony. The setting is the river itself with thecraggy outcrops of the limestone Shutong Hill as the backround. The 70 minute night time performance featuresmore than 600 actors and actresses depicting a famous Chinese fable. There is a series of songs, music, andlighting effects that are almost indescribable.

The story is about Liu Sanjie that originates from the Zhuangminority people, the largest of the minority groups in China. It is based on the legend of a woman calledLiu Sanjie, who they feel the be a real figure in their history. Had our guide not told the story, we neverwould have been able to associate it with the performance.

Don?t quote us, but we think the story line has it that anabandoned baby girl was plucked from the riverbank. Raised with a young boy, her adoptive father,who was a farmer, treated her like a daughter. And the son, took to her like a sister. However, as time went on, hegrew to love her. But times were hard,and the farmer was forced to sell the girl to the wealthy old landlord, whodesired the young girl as a concubine. She refused the advances of the landlord,but this is where the story gets fuzzy. Somehow, she ends up dying, and shetravels to the heavens and the moon. Inhis dreams, the heart-broken boy imagines going off with her in the end. Now this may be all wrong, but that is howour guide described it to us.

So, back to the beginning. We met Jeremy and our driver, Hi, at 5:30pm in the hotel lobby. Although he had warned us that the ride mightbe long, it really was not bad. Probablytook us over an hour back to the village of Yangshuo. Bad news, it was drizzling all the waythere. We understood that this show goeson, rain or shine, all year long. Ohwell, we were dressed for the inclement weather, wearing waterproof jackets andshoes. No umbrellas would be allowed.

We were dropped off as close as Hi could get us. People were coming in buses, vans, taxis,motorbikes, and also by foot to this show. It seemed like we walked forever on a rough rock stony road to get tothe ticket office. Good thing we woreshoes with treads, because the stones were slippery. No high heels here. Jeremy purchased the tickets for us, then ledus to the venue. The performance wasstarting a 7:45pm, so we had ? hour to get to our seats.

Once again, it seemed like miles to walk there, but it wasnot that far. Just seemed so in the dark. It was like coming into a baseball stadium, with seating for 3700people. We were all handed a thin plasticponcho, which only one of us put on. Itwas something short of a miracle, but the drizzling rain had stopped.

We found our way to the mid-section of seating with afabulous over-all view of the river. Inno time, the seats all around us filled up, as did the rest of the seatingarea. Once Jeremy got us situated in thecorrect area, he left and said he would gather us when the show was over.

Then at promptly 7:45pm, the lights went out, and the limestonemountains were suddenly lit up. A moviescreen in the center of the river showed the daytime view of the river and thepeaks on the screen. Suddenly theshadows of the rafts with the rowers began appearing like visions driftingacross the screen.

Then the music blasted, and the costumed actors beganappearing on the water?s edge. Besidesthe announcer, the first ones to appear were the kids?dozens of them, singingas they entered from both sides. Thenboats appeared in the river, with the rowers carrying huge torches. Then the music began in earnest, whichliterally shook our seats.

It was quite a surreal scene to see the number of torchescoming from both sides of the banks, as the kids sang. The story continued, with more and moreactors and actresses entering the stage, which was all in the river. What appeared to be long boats, the actorswere riding on the traditional rafts, and pulling themselves across with submergedred satin cloth, which they pulled up and down like making waves. Don?t know how they did that, but it sure wasimpressive.

The performance continued for over an hour, with each scenegetting better and better. When the girldied, you could see her advancing to a quarter moon, which appeared out ofnowhere. Looked like a large banana, butwide enough for a woman to walk on it, and sing.

The audience loved it, and documented every part of the showwith their cell phones. Have to admit,it was a distraction, but every person had a phone, so we just got used toit. We enjoyed the show to the very end,when the entire cast came out. Withtheir special lit up costumes, they looked like rows of candles from bank tobank. The music rocked everyone to thecore. Very, very well-done. We highly recommend seeing it if you are everin the area.

Close to 9pm, the show was ended, and people began findingtheir way to the main road. A funnything happened before we joined the exodus. A group sitting to our left, began filing past us, when one of them said?weknow you. One by one, they passed by ussaying hellos and shaking our hands. Would you believe they were the samefamily group that took our photos on the boat this morning. Small world. What are the odds that we would see them here, and in a crowd of 3700people, how likely is it that we would be sitting together?

Back to the road, we waited for our car with Jeremy. And would you believe that the rain beganfalling? What lucky timing was that? Got back inside the car before the rain gotheavier. We were back to the hotel inGuilin by 10:30pm, and learned that dinner was over. We could have ordered room service, but thatwas not a great idea. Not really hungry,we were so tired by then, bed sounded way better of an idea.

And so ended a very nice day. But there is more to come??

Bill & Mary Ann

So enjoying reading about your travels. Thanks so much for what you do.

Thank you, Mary Ann and Bill for taking us along on this adventure. Your detailed descriptions and photos are priceless.

I found more than one version of the love story in the Impressions production.

http://www.chinahighlights.com/yangshuo/attraction/impression-liu-sanjie.htm

http://yangshuo-insider.com/liu-san-jie-light-show-in-yangshuo

Barbara

Report #61 Guilin to Hong Kong March 1,2017 Wednesday Overcast/smoggy with cool to mildtemps 48 Pictures

We woke up to an overcast, smoggy, but cool weathermorning. Certainly, we slept good, but nowhere near long enough. Remindedus of our very first 12 day cruise in the Mediterranean. Almost every daywas a port, with the exception of two sea days. With two long flightsinvolved, it was exhausting. We needed another vacation once we got hometo re-cooperate. Not being retired back then, it was back to work a dayor two after getting home. Then there was the jetlag……..

Anyway, on the positive side, we are getting good at this“living on the road”, so to speak. Quick packing, keeping it simplehas been fun. Would we want to do this for weeks or months? No, westill agree that traveling on a ship with a mix of relaxing sea days with portsin between is the best way to go for us. With so much to take in on landtours, it can be over-whelming….information overload. Once we are back onthe ship, we can absorb what we have seen, and perhaps read more about thisarea of the world and understand it much better.

Our guide and driver met us at 8:30am sharp. That gaveus plenty of time to enjoy the buffet breakfast at 6am. Funny thinghappened last night when we got back from the Impression show. Runningfor the elevator, we ran smack into Henk, our host from our travelgroup. He was escorting a group that had left from Shanghai for four daysand three nights to see the Terra Cotta Warriors and also Guilin and the LiRiver. They would be doing the river the next day, and going back to HongKong March 2nd like us. We had a good visit with Henk aboutwhat we had missed at the Mariner party on the ship. After filling us inon what we had not really missed, we had to say goodbye, since our time wasrunning out.

The ride back through Guilin was good, since we had missed alot of the scenery on the way here two days ago. We passed more of thekarst formations with caves along the way. Also, we got to see the newapartment towers being built to house even more people. On the outskirtsof the city, we saw more of the industrial part of town, and the contributingfactors of why there is so much smog that hangs over this entire country.

The ride only took 45 minutes, and we arrived with plenty oftime to get to the check-in desk. Jeremy did all the talking, andprocured our tickets for both flights. One to Shanghai, and the next toHong Kong. Since day one, we inquired why we could not fly directly toHong Kong from Guilin. We were advised repeatedly that there were nostraight through flights this time of year. This info was not from ourwonderful travel agent, but the agency that does overland adventures. Wehave been happy with their services on past cruises, when we went to SouthAfrica twice, India, and Sri Lanka last year. However, a new personworked on this itinerary, and was misinformed. Jeremy checked with theairlines to find that on four days a week, they do fly directly to HongKong. The day we were leaving, Wednesday, they do not have a directflight. In hind sight, we could have stayed here one more night, touringthe caves or whatever, and fly directly to Honk Kong (an hour flight weunderstand), and going right back to the ship.

Instead, here we were flying for 2 hours to Shanghai, thentransferring for another 3 hour flight from Shanghai to Hong Kong. Weneeded to spend one night in Hong Kong, since the ship would not arrive untilMarch 2nd. If our math is correct, that means we flew 4 hoursmore than we needed. We are definitely going to discuss this with thesecondary travel company for not doing their homework this time. Couldhave saved us some money as well.

OK, enough venting. Our one checked bag was right onthe nose at 20 kilos or 44 pounds. It would go through to Hong Kong…wewould not need to pick it up and take it to the connecting flight. Goodnews. Something we may not have mentioned is the fact that with all ofthe Chinese flights we did, we did not have to pay for our checkedluggage. We were each allowed one piece for free. And because ofthis, the overhead bins in all of the planes were not jammed solid. Therewas room for everyone’s smaller hand luggage. What a much better idea.

Our flight left at 10:55am with a bumpy start due toturbulence. Thought the cabin would rattle apart. No one seemed toflinch, so we did not get too nervous. Once we gained a higher altitude,the bouncing disappeared. In minutes, we were served lunch, another nicething they do complimentary. No charge at all. And it was also goodwith choices of chicken or fish and noodles. Once I heard noodles, thatsold me on the chicken. It came with a roll, butter, a little salad, andfour tiny kumquats. It was the first time we tasted them, and found themrather sweet and similar to oranges. The skin is thin, and you eat theentire thing, less the seeds. We noticed that the locals were tossingthem in their mouths whole, and eating them seeds and all. Drinks offeredwere sodas, water, coffee, or tea.

The plane landed at about 1:30pm, where we figured we wouldhave a 3 hour layover. Not so. Getting off this flight, we wentdown portable stairs to the tarmac. Thought our sweatshirts were going toblow away it was so windy. Makes one wonder why the smog does not blow away inthis wind. Guess it has nowhere to go. We heard from friends lateron that Shanghai was so smoggy, they had problems breathing during their twoday stay.

Once down on the tarmac, we waited for the bus to take us tothe terminal. This airport is huge, and we were a few miles from theterminal. Even though we were still in China, the flight to Hong Kong hadto be boarded at the international terminal. So we followed some folksheaded that way, and with some help from airport locals, we were led to theimmigrations check point.

We had to fill out arrival forms, then proceed in a verylong line through customs. We passed with no problems, getting the formsstuck back in our passports.

Then we got in the security line and the xray check. The official insisted that Bill had keys in his camera bag, which he didnot. He was asked to dump all of the contents out, so they could see whatwas in there. Not saying a word, he did what they asked, then they werefinally satisfied there were no keys. You never want to argue with thesefolks, especially in a foreign country.

This flight was boarding at 3:30pm, giving us a little timeto work on emails. We spent more time walking up and down this terminal,looking for a regular cup of coffee, like McDonalds. We had seen one ofthose, but it was on the outside of security. We certainly did not wantto go through that again.

Never found the coffee, but we did find a money exchangeplace, and got some more yuan. We ended up buying some cokes, a water,pretzels, and two ice cream cones. That took care of all of thechange. No coins left either.

After finishing the ice cream cones, delicious, there was alittle time left for working on photos. This time, we waited upstairs,then had to go down an escalator to the connecting walkway to the plane. Our tickets were checked before we went down the lower level. The planeeventually took off closer to 5pm, totally full. We were about the onlyforeigners on this flight.

Again, we were fed a dinner. This time we chose thebreaded pork entrée with butterfly noodles. It came with the roll andbutter, sliced and seasoned radish, carrot salad with slices of duck meat, and watermelon chunks…..the best part of the meal, we thought. Wewere handed a cup of water in a sealed plastic container, and also a glass ofsoda.

Then we noticed the stewardesses coming up the aisle withanother cart full of ice cream cones. The same ones we had in theterminal. They tasted every bit as good as the first ones. Both ofus had enough time to do report work and photo sorting. Thought we mightcatch a nap, but that never happened.

The plane landed at 7:40pm, where we had to go throughimmigrations again. Filling out the landing cards, our passports werestamped once again at this point. Then we were free to go to the baggageclaim area, collect our bag, and look for our driver.

He was there in the main hall with our names on aboard. He took us to the Shangri La Hotel in Kowloon, a 45 minutedrive. He handed us a letter explaining that someone would pick us uptomorrow for the transfer to the ship by 12:30pm. Sounded good to us.

Signing in was easy at the front desk. This wasanother beautiful hotel, that faced the harbor and Hong Kong Island across theway. It is never a disappointing view of the many high rise towers thatare lit up at night. We were on the 14th floor, and briefly weconsidered staying an extra night for the convenience of staying near downtownand Nathan Road. However, the current price of the room we were in wasover $500, so we declined and said one night would be fine.

By the time we entered the room, it was 9:30pm, and if wehad considered going to dinner, we had just missed the casual diningrestaurant. Since we had so much on the plane, a tiny bag of pretzels andan apple turned out to be our dinner. Our belongings arrived to the roomwithin 10 minutes, followed by a butler who came with a welcome pot oftea. Quite civilized.

This room was lovely too, but since we are so, so tired, wecan tell you all about it tomorrow.

Until then,

Bill & Mary Ann

Report #62 HongKong, People’s Republic of China March2, 2017 Thursday Sunny & 70 degrees 70 Pictures Day #1

We have lost count of the many times we have had thepleasure if visiting Hong Kong. It isundoubtedly, one of our most favorite ports to spend time, and for that reason,it is usually always on the itinerary of the Grand World Voyage. Recently, a few years ago, this city was noton the list, and everyone we knew protested. A three-day stay is needed to be able to take everything in withoutkilling yourselves.

A few facts include that Hong Kong is home to over 7 millionpeople, even though only ¼ of the area is urban. Crammed quarters is the norm. Wall-to-wall people, especially when you addthe tourists…it is unavoidable.

Far different from other major Chinese cities, Hong Kong issuch a blend of Chinese heritage and British colonial influences, it isdifficult to separate the two. Cantoneseand English are the two primary languages of the locals. We have heard that the differences betweenthe Mandarin and Cantonese languages is quite pronounced, as Bill has Chinesefriends that claim they do not understand the Cantonese spoken in the south ofChina.

Hong Kong is the capital of Hong Kong. It was ceded to Britain in 1841, but returnedto China in 1997. It is now an economicallyindependent city of bankers, a vibrant stock exchange, and skyscrapers thatblast their lights across Victoria Harbour every night at 8pm. The streets teem with most energetic peoplein Asia. More Europeans live and workhere, as Hong Kong is a major draw inAustralasia.

Bustling streets in both Hong Kong Island and Kowloon are jumpingday and night. The outlying areas havepeaceful beaches and jungle trails located on the many islands of the NewTerritories.

The best time to visit here is from October to December toavoid the rains. Things to do and see include Victoria Peak, StanleyMarket, the Star Ferry, Kowloon Park, and Lantau Island for the Giant Buddhaand the Po Lin Monastery. A trip toMacau will reveal the Portuguese history and also give you the chance togamble.

We like our visits to Kowloon’s meat, fish, and producemarkets, located on the side streets off of Nathan Road. That’s where the real people of Hong Kong gofor bargains. When there is time, a tripthrough the Bird and Flower Markets are a must. And you should not miss the Ladies Market and especially, the TempleStreet Night Market, another favoritespot for us tourists as well as our crew members. Bargaining is a must and is expected. No excuse not to find some treasures there.

What is there to eat? Dim sum, a wonderful steamed feast. Their drink? Green tea is numberone, while bubble tea with tapioca pearls is popular. Or you can try yuanyang, a mix of half coffeeand half tea. Might be good, who knows? Come to think of it, one of our lady guidesdrank half Pepsi and half beer, claiming the beer cut the sweetness of thesoda.

Trademarks are skyscrapers, double-decker buses, shoppingsprees either in massive modern malls, or on side street outdoor markets. Also including are the Peak Tram, JackieChan, Chinese New Year, and dim sum.

Here is a random fact, which we have written before: In Hong Kong, wives are legally allowed tokill adulterous husbands, so long as they only use their bare hands. Wayward fellows….better watch out! Don’t know if it works visa versa?

Sleeping in this morning was so nice, since we were notgoing to check out until 12:30pm. TheShangri La Kowloon is located on Hong Kong harbor in the Tsim Sha Tsui Eastdistrict of the city. We have walkedthis entire area on every visit to Hong Kong, never guessing we would bestaying here. From the 14thfloor, we had a panoramic view of Victoria Harbour and the fabulous Hong KongIsland skyline.

Recently renovated, their rooms here are among the mostspacious in the city. Huge king-sizebed, with a floor to ceiling bay window with automatic curtains was a perfectway to spend a night. By the way, whenyou leave the room, pulling your keycard from the slot, the drapes automaticallyclosed. Good idea during the warmdaytime, since the room tends to heat up quickly.

We had all the normal amenities like free WIFI, bottledwater, upgraded toiletries, and a marbled full-size bathroom. Separate tub, shower, and a single sink.There were numerous channels on the flat screen TV, but little time to watchit. We are certain there were twoswimming pools and an exercise facility, but once again, no time to indulge.

Breakfast was complimentary on the mezzanine level, whichover-looked the gorgeous lobby. International cuisine was offered at manystations. We did notice that this café wastwice the size of our previous Shangri La stays on this trip. And it was twice as busy as Hong Kong housesmany more traveling professionals who do business here.

After enjoying a full breakfast, we went back to the room tore-pack for the final time. Stashingeverything we could fit in the duffel was good, since we had no more flights toworry about.

We worked on reports and pictures, since these things arebeginning to back up. Good thing thistrip has been thoroughly documented with photos and notes, since after a while,everything begins to run together, and our memories tend to switch thingsaround in the order of events. Listeningto all of the news stations, we were happy to hear that the US Stock Market wasdoing so well.

We checked out at 12:30pm, and met our driver who was righton time. It was sad that we had onlyspent less than one day in this hotel, since it was so lovely. We would highly recommend it for location andexcellent service.

We had a long ride to get to the Kai Tek Terminal, which isthe old airport. This is the first timethe ship had to dock here on a world cruise. We had been bumped by the Pacific Princess (also on a world voyage), whohad arrived yesterday for a 2 day stay. The plan was for them to leave tonight, and theAmsterdam would move to Ocean Terminal, our normal spot.

We entered the terminal after a very long walk up escalatorsto the xray check point. Once there, oneof us got scanned and wanded, not sure why. Then it was another long hike to board the ship. This has to be the worst terminal ever as faras convenience. What made up for thiswas being greeted by so many of the crew and staff saying, “Welcome back”.

Getting back to our room, we basically left everything thereto take advantage of the little time we had left in town for the rest of theafternoon. Thank goodness, two shuttleswere provided since this terminal is in the middle of nowhere. You cannot access town as it is isolated on aland-fill – too huge to even walk out on your own.

The drop-off area was right behind the Peninsula Hotel,close to everything. We made our way tothe Harbour city Mall (450 shops and restaurants) by going down under thestreet towards the Ocean Terminal. Lunchwas first on the agenda, and pizza was on our minds, of course. The Pizza Express was the best place to go. We ordered a margarita pizza with two Peronidraft beers. Relaxing for an hour waspriceless, and the pizza was cooked perfectly.

Then we headed towards the Temple Street Night Market, whichwe knew would be beginning at 4:30pm. Thiswas our only chance to go here, since the ship will be leaving tomorrow after6pm. All aboard was scheduled at 4pm.

We ran into three cruise buddies that gave us an earfulabout the days we missed, which included the special Mariner cocktail party andspecial event. Almost sounded like arerun of the 2009 Chinese extravaganza, only not as spectacular. Heard it was good food (mostly sea food), andway too much to drink. Isn’t that alwaysthe case when it is free?

Anyway, one of us is a purse-collector, and we found exactlywhat we were looking for and more. Halfof the fun was bargaining. Going backand forth, the end price will be half of what they are asking. The vendors like playing the game as much aswe do. We certainly cannot do this athome, can we? We had to watch the timeto get back to the bus stop, and navigating our way through the crowd wasdifficult. This time of day, commuterand students were heading for the metro, and it seemed like we were alwaysgoing the opposite way of the crowd flow.

Back at the bus stop, we ran into good friends Bill andLeta. It was the perfect chance for usto catch up on news and our trip. Overthe years, they have been to most of these spots we just toured, and it was funcomparing notes.

We got back just in time for dinner, although we wereexhausted and almost did not go. However, hot soup and salads and the chance to see our buddies got us todrag ourselves to the table. Barb hadgone to town with Ellen as always, and Scoop was missing in action. So it was Maureen, Jim, Martin, andMartha. Our friend Ruud, had left theship this morning to go home to Holland. He will be missed, especially by Martha, who he loves to teaseconstantly. Good thing they are closefriends.

We cannot even tell you what we ate for dinner, since wewere tired. But it was nice to be homeagain, sharing news and laughs with our tablemates. By the time we got back to our room, the shipwas leaving the pier at Kai Tek at 10:30pm and sailing slowly to OceanTerminal. They arrived by 12:30pm, whichwe did watch on the TV screen in the room. Boy, it was wonderful to drop into bed. We literally did not move a muscle all night.

Bill & Mary Ann

Love reading your reports, you enthusiasm for travelling comes through in every one. I can picture exactly what you are doing. Enjoy the rest of your voyage and please keep posting as I look forward to your reports daily.

Mary

Report #63 HongKong, People’s Republic of China March3, 2017 Friday Sunny & 75 degrees 87 Pictures Day #2 Part #1 0f 4

Sometimes it seems like you just closed your eyes, and theentire night has flown by. That was truethis morning, although we did go to the dining room for breakfast an hour laterthan usual. It was so good beingwelcomed back by the wait staff we have come to know and love. As nice as our trip was, we missed these guys.

Today was the beginning of a new segment, as we foundanother log of the cruise to add to the collection. Will have to ask Presty how many left and howmany joined.

To our surprise, two baskets of laundry we had turned inyesterday, were returned this morning. Terrific service, we have to admit.

We needed to work on catching up mostly on photos, so wehung around until 11am. Also a good timeto do some emails, since most everyone was off of the ship.

Unfortunately, the day would be short, because all aboardwas 4pm, followed by another mandatory passenger muster drill. Oh goodie…..

The good news was that we could put our shorts back on. The weather was much warmer here, although westill needed a sweatshirt or a fleece vest going outside. Making our way thru the Harbourcity Mall, webegan our walk towards Nathan Road. The plan was to make it as far as the Jade Market. Normally, if we had a full day here, wewould hike all the way to the Flower and Bird Markets, with a stop on the wayback at the Ladies Market. We did nothave the gift of time on our side today.

At the Jade Market, we intended to take some photos, mostlyfor the colors and variety of items they sell here. For thefirst time, we felt there was little pressure to buy. Very close by this market, is the fresh foodarea of Kowloon. Located on the sidestreets, were the meat, fish, chicken, and produce stands. One large building offers live seafood andfresh produce. If you can handle thefishy smell, then you will see the vendors chopping and cleaning the fish.

From here, we continued walking the side streets throughmore food vendors and clothing stalls. Great photo op.

Since we needed to make it back to the mall, we figured itwas time to head back. A perfect placeto visit on the way back, was Kowloon Park. It is an oasis in the center of busy Kowloon, where we found gardenbeds, mature trees, a swimming pool, and a bird aviary. Wish we had more time to enjoy all of this,but it was time for lunch. Did manage totake many good photos along the way.

Ending up at the pond area with ducks, geese, andflamingoes, we walked across the bouncy bridge that connects across the road tothe hotels. A few years ago, wediscovered a set of elevators in the adjacent hotel to the mall. By taking the elevator down a few floors, wefound ourselves at street level, close to the entrance to the mall.

Perfect, from here, we navigated our way to lunch at BLTBurger. Having bought a bit more HongKong dollars, we knew we could use up all the money, including change, that wehad left. We ordered two BLT classic burgers,one order of skinny fries, and beer. Doesn’t the name “skinny” just crack you up? Skinny in size they are, but are forever onyour hips, so to speak. Food is notcheap here, as you might expect it to be. Our burgers, which were ½ pounders, were the equivalent of over $13USD. So by the time everything was addedup, our bill, including tax, was over $43.00 USD. Way more than what we pay at home. Always good to keep in mind, that high pricescan be part of traveling. Here in HongKong, you can bet on the cuisine to be ample and safe to eat. Worth the money you pay.

The time came too quickly for us to head back to theship. At least it was better than havingto walk to the pick-up at the Peninsula Hotel.

Speaking of walking, here is a fascinating fact that welearned from watching the Discovery Channel in the hotel yesterday. Did you know that on average, a person willwalk the equivalent of enough miles in their lifetime to take them around theglobe four times? Believe it or not, wefeel it will apply to us, since we walk everywhere we can. And no days off, rain or shine.

In addition, everyone was required to turn in theirpassports with the departure slips clipped inside to the Hudson Room onboard theship. Going between 2 to 4pm, turned outto be a good idea, since not everyone was filing off of the ship. Later at the sail away, we heard an announcementfor one lady to contact the office. Shehappened to be on deck six, and did not respond to the message. Guess she never made it back. As a matter of fact, many folks did not makeit here, due to delayed flights. Musthave been the weather that prevented smooth take off and smootherlandings. The number was around 15people, who got caught up in the delay. Theywill be joining us when the ship arrives to Singapore.

The official sail away was held in the Crow’s Nest. We prefer to stay outside, getting views fromevery angle possible. One of those viewsincluded the sighting of a fishing bird, possibly a kite. It did get chilly once the lines were droppedaround 6:30pm, but well worth it to see the lights of the city buildingsas we sailed out of the harbor.

Dinner was fun as always. We think we are at the end of the Chinese entrees, as we head towardsVietnam and Singapore next. But there ismore…….when we got back to the room, we found two black carry on travel bags,complete with two zippered clothes pouches, shoe bags, and a TSA lock. Upon a closer look, we found one set of lockswere missing. Reporting it, one wasdelivered to our room the next day. Noproblem.

We are looking forward to two hopefully lazy days at sea.

Bill & Mary Ann

Report # 64 SailingTowards Nha Trang, Vietnam March 4,2017 Saturday Partly cloudy & 75 degrees

Having nowhere special to go today, and not getting up earlywere priceless this morning. Of course,the dining room breakfast is our favorite way to start the day. We would not miss going. The waiters never give us a bad time if westroll in at 9am.

Life is back to normal onboard the ship, after being gonefor 8 days, and spending 2 more days in Hong Kong. We found out at breakfast, that 150 peoplewent home at the end of this segment, while about the same number were to joinus. However, due to delays in flights,around 15 unlucky people missed the boat yesterday. Now they will have to go to Singapore toboard the Amsterdam on March 9th. That is one good reason we have almost always flown a few days ahead ofa cruise, and stay two nights in a hotel. You never know with flights when delays could occur. Better to leave yourselves some wiggleroom. And besides, with the time change,it does help immensely to overcome jetlag with a few days of leisure.

Sure was pleasant getting back on the lower promenade deckfor our AM walk. Gone is the snow andice too. We can feel the humidity in theair, as well as warmer temps. Ourbuddies are all back in their favorite teak lounges, reading, relaxing, andalways looking for a reason to chat. Betit is not long before people start to complain about the hot weather.

There was so much catching up we had to do in our room, thecomputer was calling us. We knew wewould pass on the talks on what to do and see in Phu MY, Vietnam in the Queen’sLounge. Besides a trip to Saigon and theresort of Vung Tau, there is nothing to do in Phu My (pronounced fu me). It is just a spot on the river to dock in anindustrial area. Bet we have been to HoChi Minh three times, and once to Vung Tau. With no offense meant, once was enough.

Anyway, two guest speakers, Georgina Bexson and BrianStoddard, educated the folks on everything Vietnamese. As for us, we met Barb for lunch in thedining room. Such a better place to catchup on news over a pleasant meal of taquitos, clam chowder, and mini-burgers. We all lingered until 2pm, while the waitersbegan setting up for formal dinner. Ohexcuse us, gala dinner.

The entire rest of our day was well-spent room-bound. Have to admit, one of us actually fell asleep on the couch while writingreports. For an entire hour, Iunderstand. AS our folks used to say,there is no rest for the wicked. Betteryet, traveling is hard work, and someone has to do it. Might as well be us. You can always catch up on sleep later on.

Dinnertime came upon us so fast, and we toyed with the ideaof staying home. However, a room servicedinner did not sound appealing. So wedonned the fancy clothes, and met with our tablemates for dinner. We had company, Rauol, a member of thenavigation team. Since he was seatedcloser to the fellows and Maureen, the conversation stayed across the table. Rauol seemed content to devour his meal, morethan visiting with any of us. Can’t saywe blame him, with appetizer like chilled Alaskan crab legs. Do you know that giant King crabs go for awhopping 980 HK dollars, or over $127 US dollars for one? By the way, new soup bowls appearedtoday. Philip told us at lunchtime, thatmost all of the new thin soup bowls were chipped or broken. So they had to go out In Hong Kong to buyreplacements. These heavier bowls cost$1.00 USD, while the fancy thin bowls ran about $5.00 US dollars. And they never kept the soup hot. So you don’t always get what you paid for.

Like we mentioned before, tonight was gala. So what was with the fellow sitting behind usdressed in a plaid flannel shirt and jeans? Guess almost anything goes, sincehe had a collar, he was OK. Scoopresented that, because two years ago, he was wearing an expensive t-shirt, andwas asked to leave and go change. Nocollar, no dinner? Personally, we havenot seen anyone turned away from the dining room on Gala Nights. At least on this grand voyage so far…..

The singers and dancers were back on stage with Heat, a goodperformance every time we see it.

A new band is in the Crow’s Nest called Sirius Four. According to Barb, they play music from the70’s and 80’s. She preferred theprevious band that stayed on for two weeks.

Good news, the clocks went back one hour tonight, and did weall appreciate that or what?

Bill & Mary Ann

So enthralling !!! Following !

yes agreed following too .

awesome posts on the trip you guys are taking Bill and Mary Ann thank you