Viking China?

[nvphyl]

We Just Booked Our River Cruise With Viking. Viking Sky Leaving Amsterdam On May 24th. Saved $700 By Booking Our Own Airfair. We Did Buy Their Transfers Because This Is New To Us & Didn't Want To Worry About Taxis & Money Enchange.

[WIT]

cmthomas: Did your wife mind the shorts or slacks when using the squat toilets or did you not run into any? I understand that that is all they have at the major sites: Great Wall for example. Thanks. Marlyne

 

PS: I have read and loved your blogs - so helpful.

Marlyne - We did the Great Wall this morning. Toilets were standard Western ones. Some interesting shopping for both junk and better.

WIT

[cmthomas]

Ni hau, Bill! Hope you are enjoying the trip.

 

Clarence:)

[M&T]

Thanks. I have not been back to cruise critic for awhile. My trip leaves June 5th, so I am really getting excited. I will be reading avidly now for information. Marlyne

[M&T]

A question I have is how long the tours are at various places (great wall, Ming tombs, forbidden city, xian tombs) and are you given any free time to wander? Thanks. Marlyne

[Cheesi]

We were so inspired by Clarence's description of his trip on Viking to China and Tibet that we have signed up for the same trip leaving 9/21/07. Anyone out there going?

 

I've put posts on the other Viking thread and Asia, but so far no luck.

[cmthomas]

Chessi, you make me blush!:o I am so happy that my little journal was of use. Just keep in mind that this trip is not so much a restful vacation as it is an adventure. From our experience I would doubt that you will have the 270 people on your itinerary that some others have reported. We had only 30 for the land portion to Tibet but we joined with other groups when we got to the ship. Tibet isn't for everyone only because it is SO different and exciting. If your reaction is similar to mine your first view of the Potala Palce will just take your breath away (and there isn't much breath to spare at that altitude!). We have been to over 75 countries on all 7 continents and the Potala Palace runs a close second to the Lost City of Petra in Jordan as the most awesome and interesting.

 

Lhasa is one stop where you will have the opportunity after lunch to strike out on your own if you wish. Just make sure that you have a card from your hotel with the name and address on it. Enjoy the experience of riding a pedi-cab (a bicycle powered rickshaw!) but negotiate the fare first! They just love to negotiate with you. The Tibetan people remind me of the Thai's as they always seem to have a smile for you.

 

DO NOT HESITATE to purchase some supplemental oxygen and use it as an afternoon cocktail. They have it in the gift shop at the Lhasa Hotel and by now they may even have the oxygen piped into the rooms. All of the equipment appeared to be in place in 2005 and they could not tell us when it was to start working. And the key to surviving a visit at that altitude is TAKE IT EASY! Figure on taking twice the time you would normally take for anything. Walk slowly. Rest frequently. Drink it all in as this is a place that you will talk about for the rest of your life.

 

BTW, I think that you have made an excellant choice of a late September departure but you never know! Looking forward to hearing your reactions when you return.

 

Clarence:)

[Tennessee Traveler]

Dear M & T

About free time to wander while visiting major sites in China:

About 90 minutes to 2 hours on the Great Wall. But it was really, really crowded on the Wall. So, you couldn't walk very far & never without being packed in. At the Forbidden City, we had a guided tour. It's such a large area, you are much better off being with a group. At Xian to see the Terra Cotta soldiers, we had quite a bit of time in each building to study and photograph the soldiers. For the Ming Tombs, we just did a walk down the Sacred Way and never entered the museum area. The walk was interesting to see and fun to photograph the unusual figures along its way, but not as spectacular as the sites mentioned above.

It was my second trip to China, and I found that in 20 years, China has gotten more crowded and touristy as the Chinese people are now a large part of the crowds. That's a big change from 1986 when the tourists were mostly Westerners. When I got home and looked at my pictures of the Great Wall, I couldn't believe the difference in the number of people on the Wall. But still the trip was incredible to revisit China!

[M&T]

My husband visited 20 years ago too. He is looking forward to seeing the changes. I'm sure the crowds will make it more tiring. Any advice or suggestions for him? I also love CMThomas's blogs. They are fantastic. Marlyne

[Tennessee Traveler]

Dear M & T,

Since there will be a lot more traffic/gridlock in the large cities, something to read and/or do on the bus might be advisable. Twenty years ago there was hardly a private car and now .........! The cruise will be wonderful! I hope you meet as many wonderful shipmates/travelers as I did. Also, if your husband is a photogrpaher, he can take pictures of the Terra Cotta soldiers now - couldn't 20 year ago. Also, now only one currency, the Yuan, no more tourist money and no more friendship stores - I even went into a Wal Mart in Wuhan. I won't even go into the Wal Mart right near my house.

[M&T]

Thanks. My husband is a major photographer. I already told him he will be able to take pictures of the warriors. Are there places you recommend being for pictures at the Great Wall, Warriors and Forbidden City? Thanks again. Marlyne

[Tennessee Traveler]

Dear Marlyne,

I am sure that your husband, being an experienced photographer, will find the best shots to take given his experienced eye for what makes a good picture! I always find that colorful shots, interesting people, unique angles, and contrasts make for a good photograph. I try to avoid crowds with too many people in my shot - good luck at the Great Wall. Walk as far away from the main gate of the Wall as possible, and you may get some special shots of the Wall in both directions. The other places like the Terra Cotta soldiers & the Forbidden City are easier to find those special photo opportunities. Take lots of pictures - especially if they are digital, and I'm sure there will be many gems!

[cruisemom123]

I will try and answer a few question I can remember from the notes above.

With almost every stop ther is time to shop provideing he folks get back to the bus on time from the stop before. we happen to have one or 2 very rude couples who were 15 to 40 minurs late at every stop. I also blame the escort for not being for direct in the begining. also on a lot of stops we had local guides whose english was hard to understand and the folks on the bus chatted away while others were trying to listen my suggestion is if your guide is not asking the passenger to be couteous then maybe the other passengeers should say something the guides are very informative and should have every ones attention.

We loved the 9 days on the river. The viking river sun is a great boat.

The staff courteous.

April was very hot. bring cool cotton clothes.

be aware of many pick pockets keep thngs close to yu haev lots of single dollors I brought 100 and it was nto enough. take small money $5, and $10. $20 are hard to break

If you wnt to use an atm bring your pin number with you.

you should pay about 1/3 of what a vender is asking

they have small kites we finally got them 7 to 10 for $1

let me know if any one has any question. lauandry was not cheap on the ship. we were able to down load our video chip for about $8.00 per disk on the ship.

but bring extra there are many pictures to take

[carolat]

We returned last week from the 10 day trip (four nights on the Viking Century Sky) beginning in Shanghai and ending in Beijing. There were 28 in our group, and we had a wonderful time. Our guide, Richard, was fabulous and the local guides were good as well.

 

The ship was great -- very beautiful and standard rooms were spacious for a ship. Hotels (St Regis in Shanghai and Westin in Beijing) were fabulous. The restaurant where we had dinner the first night of our stay there and breakfast every morning was incredible. The Shangri La in Xian was a little less fabulous, but served the purpose.

 

We felt we had ample time at all the sights and ample time for shopping, although some on the trip may have wanted more shopping time.

 

If you start your trip in Shanghai and elect, as we did, to do your own travel arrangements, you must take the Maglev train from the Airport, then cab it to your hotel (assuming you are staying on the same side of the river as the airport -- if not, the taxi could be very long and more expensive). The Maglev went 431 km/hr and took 8 minutes to get from the airport to the only station. Then, the cab took us about 3 more miles to the St. Regis.

 

Also, be sure to take appropriate medications with you including CIPRO or Zpac. This came in handy for me and I don't get sick easily. However, there were not many on our trip who had a problem.

 

There was only one instance -- in an airport -- when I was unable to locate a decent western toilet. Our guide gave us ratings of toilets at the next stop -- a 4 or 5 star toilet was generally available. If nothing good was coming up soon, he also let us know that. However, many (even 4 star...) do not have paper, so Charmin to go is your best bet.

 

The only down side to the trip was that we were on the bus A LOT. I think the location of the hotel in Shanghai was a bit inconvenient from the sites we visited, and because we were in Beijing, Great Wall, etc. during the week long May Day holiday the traffic was worse than normal. In fact, we were in Tianimen Square on May Day. Actually, the crowds weren't as bad as we expected.

 

 

 

We really enjoyed the trip and felt that Viking did an outstanding job.

[WIT]

Carolat and Cruisemom123 - Welcome back and thanks for your reports. I returned from the Cultural Delights Viking Cruise May 1st and most of my remarks are posted on the larger Viking China thread under Other Cruise Lines.

I especially agree about the crowds on weekends and holidays. I can't imagine how crowded it will be next year for the Olympics. My advice would be to bring something to read while your bus sits in traffic.

Photos with captions of the trip are at:

 

http://picasaweb.google.com/billwitowski

 

WIT