2013-10-31

Asian Adventures - East Ballina, Australia

East Ballina, Australia

Sunday, 3rd February : Brisbane to Singapore Brad takes us to Brisbane. Flight to Singapore. Good flight & service on plane. To hotel, in older part of Singapore. Everything well lit up with lots Lunar New Year signs, decorations etc. Walked across cricket fields, very old. Also, St Andrews Cathedral, quite impressive. Travellers are tourists who experience things. Monday, 4th February : Singapore to board ship, MS Volendam Very humid & showery. O.K. For us to go for a walk. Walked down to harbour, lots set up for Chinese New Year celebrations. Walked along harbour with old & new merging together. Ship atop casino, Bay of Gardens from opposite side of river, looks v. good. Drenched from humidity, rain held off. Walked through St Andrew's Cathedral, impressive. Quite a long time to queue to board. Lunch.Transfer to ship was somewhat tedious Unpacked. Dinner - great group to sit with form a v. leisurely & enjoyable meal. Tuesday, 5th February : At Sea "Life is not measured By the number of breaths we take But By the places & moments That take our breath away." Day at sea, lots paperwork etc to complete. Formal dinner, again, v. enjoyable. Some singing at show after dinner - reasonable entertainment. Wednesday, 6th February : Koh Samui, Thailand Slogan of Thailand is "Land of Smiles." 95% are Buddhists. There are 30,000 temples in Thailand. This island is 3rd largest in Thailand & is known for natural resources, beautiful beaches, coral reefs & tourist trade. Island's pop is 45,000 & relies on tourism, export of rubber & coconut. Second most popular destination after Phuket. Another calm day, sea almost like glass. Koh Samui sights. Groups of 8, very convenient, with own guide. Big Buddha, golden effigy. Monastery in surrounds. Bunyan tree considered sacred, in grounds with many icons around for good luck. Lots local stalls. Warm & somewhat humid, about 32*C, but not too unbearable with some ocean breeze. Coconut display with trained monkeys climbing tree, spin coconuts until they drop to ground. Also saw how husks removed & how locals would scrape coconut out & squeeze milk for own cooking. Residue coconut thrown away. Local home v. basic with small cooking tub for all household cooking. Yet they have TV satellite & hi if system. The maze of electricity cables on posts amazing! How one would ever solve an issue with electricity is beyond me. Walked through a local market with meats & fish lying out in open with flies all over them. Much household rubbish simply lying around on ground, rather smelly. Barely knew we were moving after leaving, still flat & calm. Thursday, 7th February : Port of Laem Chabang/Bangkok, Thailand 30 baht=$US1 King Bhumibol ascended to throne in 1950. Since coup of 1932, Thailand has been a democracy. Three hour drive into city, so much traffic. amazingly dirty everywhere. Although guide says no homeless, many just collecting paper & cans for recycling, presumably, look very poor. Went to Grand Palace. Extremely hot & humid, so quite exhausting. The King no longer lives here. The king is 86 & his wife is 81. They live in an apartment attached to the Royal Hospital. They have 4 children with only 1 son. He has only had the 1 wife. They are not in good health. Huge posters of them around Bangkok, at a much younger age. The Prime Minister rules the country. At the Grand Palace, saw classroom of Anna from King & I, including her original small blackboard. Saw Emerald Buddha Temple, or What Phra Kaew, at Grand Palace. This temple is Thailand's most scad site. King 4 & 5 had bet. 77 & 84 children with 25 -31 concubines. He stopped slavery. To great hotel, check in & some rest time. Out to a wonderful Thai meal for dinner. Show with dancers, percussion & fighters with fighting sticks. All very good. The river is certainly the best way to move around Bangkok as the roads are continuously choked with traffic. Bangkok has a pop. of 14 million. There are 3 million cars in Bangkok. Thailand is the major rice producer for export. They can produce 3 rice crops a year. Tapioca is also grown in Sth Est of Bangkok. Also rubber, corn, many tropical fruits. They import oil from the Middle East. Thai is an unique language. School, at 6 years, is compulsory. To go to Uni, can earn a scholarship or take out loans. There are supposed to be no homeless, they are pushed into work. Current homeless are non-Thai. Friday, 8th February : City of Bangkok, Thailand Early rise & departure a wonderful start to day as much cooler in morning. Drove past Chinatown, already very busy, flower market with beautiful flowers & arrangements. Flowers are very important in Chinese New Year celebrations. Visited Wat Po. Wat means a collection of temples. This is a large complex with temples, monk's accommodation etc. Saw temple of Reclining Buddha. Huge statue, for those born on Tuesday. Had beautifully engraved feet, mother of pearl. Temples are built for Buddhist God & need to be on higher ground so Buddha is higher than the people. Next to Temple of Dawn. We reached all these places by river. This is a huge burial place. Ashes placed in here. So high to enable the dead to reach heaven. Very ornate. Went along the canals by klong, or klong canals, very interesting to see how everyone lives - some very poor, over canals. Can no longer build new places over water on stilts, must buy permits. Existing ones are very old & run down. Used to be over 100 canals, but most have been filled in for car parks. We stopped & fed catfish, so many & huge. We're also farming of lotus. All plots were somehow fenced off, either by bamboo fences or plastic bottles joined together. Stopped at Royal Barge Museum. Very ornate. Most not used, only very occasionally. Long day with hectic drive back to ship. Only way worth seeing city. Hotel was Royal Orchid Sheraton. Dinner was at Sala Rim Naam with Thai classical dancers. Saturday, 9th February : Shanounkville, Cambodia Also known as Kampong Soam, or "agreeable port." Is named after "Father of the Nation", King Norodom Sihanouk, who was the main promotors of independence from France in 1953. Here was the location of the last official battle of the USA army in the Vietnam war, known as the "Mayaguez incident" in 1975 with Khmer Rouge. Tour to see sights of area. First impressions is of extreme poverty & filth with rubbish everywhere. Pagoda with temples, stupas( for burials) & monk quarters. Visited Ngean Pagoda, a religious site. Saw whole pig being loaded into rear of car for Chinese New Year celebrations. Went to beach, was a touristy resort. Many children selling items, obviously not in school. Beach looked very inviting. While education is free for all to age 12, many children do not attend, instead work at selling items, giving massages, selling fruit or cooked foods to tourists. Went to local markets - much to see, but very smelly. Visited fishing village - Tumnuk Rolok, a very poor, dirty area. Saw locals having lunch with all fishing fleet. Excellent show with great singer. Sunday, 10th February : At Sea Later to rise, breakfast at leisure. Washed(Peter did!). Judy went to talk about next 2 ports in Vietnam. Small chops & waves, but still fairly calm sailing. Played some bridge also. Monday, 11th February : Phu My, Vietnam 20,000 Dong=$US1 The Vietnamese flag is red with a gold,5 pointed star. The red represents revolution & blood spilled. The 5 elements of the star are peasants, workers, intellectuals, soldiers, ?. There are 90 million people in Vietnam & 60 million scooters! Tour, Best of Ho Chi Minh City, also still commonly called Saigon. Due to Chinese New Year, less traffic as many not at work for this three day Holiday. Largest city in Vietnam & was known as Saigon until end of Vietnam war. Was renamed as Ho Chi Minh City in1975. Is situated on the Saigon River. It is the largest metropolitan area in Vietnam & Indochina, with a pop. of more than 9 million. On Day 1 of holidays, locals visit parents for festivities, to say thanks & giving of money. They also burn fake money as thanks. On Day 2 they visit friends to discuss business plans etc. On Day 3 they visit with teachers to say thanks. Parents can be put in jail if they do not send their children to school. It is seen as their duty to do so. If they are too poor, the govt. will help. It is, in turn, the children's duty to study hard, esp. in high school. At the end of this, they have exams to gain entrance to high school. Boys must do 2 years in the army around this time. Many rice fields on way into city. Also, rubber plantations. Still so many on bikes, only a few cars. Passed a water park with huge carved face of 1st king of Vietnam, Phung, in C10th. Saigon has a pop of 8.5 million, while Vietnam has a pop of 87 million. Many live in Sth Vietnam, which is more liberal. While still under communist rule, not as strict as Nth Vietnam, a socialist Republic. ( where they eat dog, as our tour guide commented.) Vietnam is the 2nd largest rice exporter, ESP. around Mekong delta. Thailand is the largest exporter. They also grow coffee, tea, flowers ( which are very important to their culture) & have rubber. They are 45% Buddhists & 27% Catholics. In town, visited Post Office & Notre Dame Cathedral, built 1818(?). 1st King built the original Notre Dame. Streets were all decked with massive flower decorations, lanterns & lights. Many trees are decorated with gifts & offerings for good luck. Looked fabulous. History Museum visit, very well presented, along with water puppets show. Lacquer Factory, supposedly to employ those disabled by war, but didn't see many so. So many processes, using mother of pearl & duck egg shells, as well as paintings. Unification Palace or President's Palace, is no longer residence of President. Built 1863 by French. Destroyed by bombs. Rebuilt 1962 - 1967. Tank that crashed through gates. Also plane that tried to drop bombs on palace. Helicopter that took President away during attempted bombings. Went down into bunkers & war control rooms where the President, Diehm, lived here during the Vietnamese wars. Tank 843 crashed through gates, other was Russian. Drove past Opera House, Rex Hotel, where the war correspondents gathered, Carnival Hotel, where Vietkong went with bombs in 1972. However, the bombs were detected. They have used the current flag since 1975. Some flags show the hammer & sickle, but not abundant. Up to the C7th, Phu Nam was name of Vietnam. It was then part of Cambodia. In the C17th, it separated & became part of Vietnam. More than 2 million died during wars. There are still bodies trapped in the tunnels after they were bombed. Tuesday, 12th February : Nha Trang, Vietnam Shuttle into town. Becoming next "in" spot in Vietnam with good beaches & lots development. Already known as the beach capital of Vietnam. Mountains are close behind. Saw large war memorial. Large resort development & water park on nearby island, Vienpearl. Many took small ferries over to island for day. There was a chaotic bustle of boats vying for customers. The cable car supports were lit at night & looked like mini Eiffel towers in a row. Wednesday, 13th February : At Sea Captain's brunch, very enjoyable. Rec. a small Holland America tile. Otherwise, bridge play etc. As evening approached, a very small "boat" with a Vietnamese male signalled to ship. We were obliged to go to his aide. The boat was like a round, small, cane bathtub, no more than 2 metres across. Although the sea was reasonably calm, he would have been having a rough ride, up & down the waves. We had to turn & reverse to reach him. When we arrived & a translated interpreted his language, said his mother ship had forgotten to give him water & food. The ship responded with such & he indicated he did not need rescuing, just supplies. After being given supplies, he then asked for money. Would seem he was not given any & the ship resumed course. Apparently they have long fishing lines out & fish all night. Thursday, 14th February : Da Nang, Vietnam In days of Vietnam war was referred to as "Saigon of the North". Entertaining the military was a big & profitable business with bars & prostitution. China Beach, made famous by the American TV series, during the war, was a centre for rest & relaxation Da Nang is a progressive city. Has a vibrant economy. Was capital from 1802-1945. Everything is very new in Da Nang. It is the 3rd largest city & has a pop. of 900,000. Land is very expensive here. All day excursion to Hue. Was heavily destroyed by war. On drive into Hue, village after village. Speed limit was 40km for much of the way. Travelled through a tunnel through mts, longest in Vietnam & Sth East Asia. Built 2000-2005 at a cost of 250,000 million US dollars. The US paid for this. It is over 6km long with a smaller tunnel beside it for rescue etc. Motor bikes cannot travel through tunnel, so must put bikes on a truck & pay for bus travel. After tunnel, went through LAN Co village, much seafood here. Famous for fish sauce & fish paste. Fishermen have large nets which they lower at nights with a light. They then gather net in from boats. Many smaller rice plots. They reap 2 crops per year. Oil on sale on side of road is from Eucalyptus tree. Rub on stomach of pregnant women. Must be careful it doesn't burn skin. We're also snakes in bottles of liquid. Older men, especially, drink a glass of this daily. Happy Elephant Pass overlooking lagoon of 22,000 hectares is the largest lagoon in Vietnam, but is very shallow. If one looks with enough imagination, there is a baby elephant in the water & a mother elephant up the hillside with trunk going down to water. Travelled over Pass of Clouds & Oceans, 500m above sea level. Imperial Citadel with Mon gate to Palace of Supreme Harmony. Huge Dynastic Urns.Pavilion on Benevolence. All quite amazing. Imperial tombs were quite amazing also. Huge King's tomb. Jackfruit on trees. Mourning Day in October. Friday, 15th February : At Sea The multicoloured, square flag is the ancient Vietnamese flag. Saturday, 16th February : Halong Bay, Vietnam This is caused by a dragon descending into the sea. Became an UNESCO world Heritage Site in 1994. Should watch for "Teresa", a giant sea creature. More than 2,000 islands rise from Bay of Tonkin, sandstone islets, wind & wave eroded grottoes. The bay we enter is the port of Hong Gai, an industrial centre, 1 of largest coal mines in Asia. Tender is into Bai Chay. In Halong Bay, people live on floating villages. They rarely go onto land. If they wish to move elsewhere, simply push their home with a boat. Quite a misty day, no sun & much cooler - sign of times to come. All so flat & peaceful. Hawkers pull up beside boat with fruits for sale, ESP. pushing sales by children. We observed a small girl wrapping a koala in a fur piece, cuddling & kissing it. Quiet afternoon, didn't go into town, same as many seen. Sunday, 17th February : At Sea Monday, 18th February : Hong Kong, China 18-19C HK Island is governmental area of city with many modern skyscrapers. Opium wars - 1839, tried to halt import of opium, esp. from India. Britain responded by bombing canton & won. Victoria Harbour Peninsula Hotel, English, impressive. Went on Peak tram, rather smoggy at lookout. Stanley market, clean & well laid out, although one does wonder if could get lost in maze of small pathways. NB Prisioners of war held in Stanley.- look up history Shark problem in water, so have nets at all beaches. Sth of HK, many movie stars live. Huge number of sampans, other boats, fishing boats in harbour, all shapes, sizes & types. Aberdeen was the original tiny fishing village of Hong Kong. It was a haven for pirates & opium smugglers. When the Chinese tried to stop illegal importation of opium into their country, merchants appealed to the British fleet for help. The Boxers Rebellion occurred when Chinese nationalists tried to rid China of all foreigners. Hong Kong became a refuge for political exiles from mainland China following the establishment of Chinese Republic in 1912. Huge numbers of refugees sought sanctuary during the 1950's & 1960's. This, combined with foreign investments, propelled Hong Kong into a major economic centre. In 1984, Britain & China agreed to revert it to Chinese authority in 1997. China agreed to 50 years of capitalistic free markets. Leaving Hong Kong, ship took scenic route out of harbour. Tuesday, 19th February : At Sea Peter developed a cold. Weather turned much cooler. Seas somewhat rougher, but still reasonably pleasant sailing. Wednesday, 20th February : At Sea Good day, Peter rested, but feeling better. Played Bridge, listened to talks. Happy Hour. Thursday, 21st February : Shanghai, China China has a pop. of almost 1.4 billion. Shanghai started out as a small fishing village some 5,000 years ago, but is actually a relatively new city. Has a population of 23 million (more than all of Australia)! Has an excellent port vantage on the Yangtze River. It is the centre for economic, commerce, industry & trade. Many Jewish refugees fled here after WW11. Great site to be berthed, right across from main town, fabulous sights, just amazing. Queen Mary also in town, but more than half an hour down river as can't fit under bridge. We are very fortunate. Cleared customs reasonably easily. 5 - 9*C today, but very cold with wind. Tour, Sights of Shanghai, very good. Long day, but saw lots & fitted much in to day. Shanghai Museum fabulous. Is a round circle on a a square base. Chinese believed Heaven was round & Earth was square. People's Square, near Museum, is the political centre. Bund is 1 mile along the embankment with much restored of the C18-C19th architecture. Bridge near here built 1907. 1882, Jade Buddha Temple. Imported from Burma. Silk showroom. Yuan Gardens - walked through markets, so very busy, one could easily become lost. Gardens have priority of water, rocks, buildings, then gardens. Were some bonsai in pots, would be quite old. Drove around, soooo many tall buildings, all with different shaped tops. Great acrobat Show at night on ship - excellent. Sights from ship at night were excellent. Friday, 22nd February : Shanghai, China 6*C today, but less wind, causing more smog/fog & hence, less visibility. Travelled by bus to go on MALGAV train. Amazing with speeds for short distance, up to 431 km. Could go faster over Longer distances. Up Jin Mao Tower. Rather smoggy to see too much, but an exciting experience. Could also look down inside to see down centre of building to foyer! Saturday, 23rd February : At Sea Sunday, 24th February : At Sea Monday, 25th February : Beijing, China AKA Peking or Xingang. Landed in port of Tianjin. Great Wall became UNESCO site in 1987. Dates 2500 years ago. Each kingdom built small sections. Mainly for defence against Mongolians or nomadic tribes who were a threat. Runs nearly 6400km from sea to desert with average height of 9m & towers that reach 12m high. 21 million people in Beijing. It is the 3rd largest city in China. After 1978 life became more personal & better with freedom, after Mao. Flag - Red stands for revolution; 4 stars are other 4 social classes - working, peasantry, urban, capatilists. Flag adopted in 1949. National Anthem, March of The Volunteers, also adopted at same time. People have freedom of speech, but is limited. Private houses cannot have satellites, so no google or Facebook. Private business has existed ONLY since mid 1980's. China has the largest work force in the world. So smoggy in city, even wore mask. CCTV Tower, 405 metres, is tallest in world. Tianamen Square Temple 1119. It is the largest public square in the world. As driving into city, snow began to fall. By time we reached Great Wall, thick snow everywhere. Early Day 1, photo of Chief of Personal Uprising, this was downfall of Ming Dynasty. He went to Forbidden City & conquered Great Wall, thus changing history. Forbidden City, Emperor for 1 month only. Mainly 2 dynasties, Ming : 1368-1644 & Chin : 1644 -1911 Tuesday, 26th February : Beijing, China Wednesday, 27th February : Dallian, China More of a vacation port than other places in China, ESP for Chinese & Russians. Wedged bet Yellow & Bohai Seas, known as Hong Kong of the Nth. One of few Chinese cities that allows foreign investors. Bet 1895-1955 Russia & Japan alternated as landlords 4 separate times. Delayed getting into port due to thick fog. Bitterly cold, foggy, smoggy. Much development happening. Very dirty all around. Watched small child defalcating in middle footpath! Only place in China with women in Mounted Police. Very foggy leaving, Captain took departure extremely slowly, but all good. Thursday, 28th February : At Sea Fog lifted, calm seas. Plenty talks today. Friday, 1st March : Busan, South Korea City bird is Seagull & flower is Camellia. 2nd largest city in Korea, after Seoul. Flag, white background represents peace & purity. Red & blue ting & yang in middle, blue is negative of yin, red is opposite of yang. Taegukki around edge. More than three & half million people in Pusan. March 1 is Korean Independence Day. Guide spelt Pusan. Largest port city in Sth Korea, much ship building. Huge number of fishing boats in port also - great masses all jammed together. Go out at night, mainly squid & return to sell to large fish markets in morning. Raining as we left ship, but cleared. Allowed Japanese settlement as trading port. After Japan invaded Korea in 1592, diplomatic relationships est 1607. In 1876, Pusan became first international port in Korea. Remained under control, one of few, of Sth Koreans during Korean War. The UN est a defensive perimeter around city in 1950. Since then has remained as a self-governing city. 3.7 million in Pusan. 52 million in Sth Korea. There are 23 tombs in Tumuli Park. saw 1 double tomb. King buried with concubines, wife in adjoining tomb. Tombs were covered with many layers of rocks, about 18 deep. These eventually crushed in on all, reducing all to char & rubble. This is a working Buddhist Temple. Tombs date from 57BC to 930AD. Royal Family Tombs. The 1910-1935 occupation of country by Japan was a setback to city/country. 8000 lost their lives during Civil Wars. NO 4unlucky in Korea, F floor in apartments etc instead of no. 4. No 8 most lucky, written sideways as infinity. Rental of properties is 1 in world. Ask 50% of buying price in advance. Owners invest this money. When move out, get ALL monies returned. Must spend 22 months in army after High School, or Uni., usually at 18 years. Saturday, 2nd March : Nagasaki, Japan Flag - white represents ? & red is sun. Japan has pop of 128 million. National flower is chrysthanemum. Pop of Nagasaki is 450 000. Peace Park - maxing memorials from all over world. Atomic Bomb Museum, terrible graphics, no matter who caused atrocities at any time. Guide kept iterating, Japan not been at war for 68? Years. Bomb actually missed intended target towards Sth of city & scored a near direct hit on largest Catholic Church in Japan. Nagasaki Museum of History & Culture - saw reproduction of 18-19 th C Samurai courtroom drama. Pop at bomb was 240 000, was 45km from Nagasaki. 74 000 perished & 75 000 seriously injured. Amazing farewell on & off ship by people from N. Dances etc on board. Then huge band with farewell etc. Fabulous! Dutch, in 1641 were moved to a small island in harbour- still able to be seen today. Christian religion banned from 1587 to 1865 Sunday, 3rd March : At Sea Monday, 4th March : Kobe, Japan To travel is to explore & discover new lands, with an open mind. As a traveller, we have to cultivate an acceptance of things as they are & a pleasant tolerance for whatever happens. If we allow ourselves to do this, the diversity the world has to offer will be ours for the taking. Monies returned!

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