Hong Kong
We arrived late evening in Hong Kong to a welcoming pot of
jasmine tea at the Shangri-la in Kowloon, and had a thoroughly Chinese dim sum style
breakfast the next morning. The city’s energy is palpable and we crammed as much into our time as we could: riding the
double decker hop-on bus through the “concrete forest,” cruising on the Star
ferry between Kowloon and Hong Kong and prowling the shops on Cat Street ,
ascending Victoria Peak in the clanking aerial tram and enjoying a beer with a
(hazy) view at the top. Drinks at the venerable Peninsula Hotel capped the day.
We found that Asia embraces Christmas décor as much as the
rest of the world and marveled at the crowds lined up for holiday photos and
the holiday lights that added another layer of glitz to the city’s dazzling
skyline. An interesting respite to the bustle was a line of trees along the
water near the Central ferry terminal in Kowloon, where birds noisily flocked
to the branches as darkness fell, reminding us of the huge banyan in Lahaina,
Maui. The end of the video captures Terry checking out a fisherman’s haul at
the water’s edge.
Moving at a brisk pace and embracing technology, Hong Kong
is a city of the future, with seemingly little nostalgia for the past. The
South China Morning Post had a front page photo of an expansive Colonial-era
mansion on the wooded slopes of Victoria Peak, with century-old turrets and
pagodas that, despite preservationists’ pleas, had just been razed to make way
for more condos.
Hanoi and Halong Bay
The road to Hanoi was bumpy and four hours long, past
strange, narrow but deep houses, built to save on land prices, countless banana
trees and water buffalo, emerald rice fields. The noise and congestion
increased at the outskirts of the city, with chickens dodging traffic and
heavily laden motorbikes whose drivers wore flip-flops and face masks. We
toured the presidential palace, where Ho Chi Minh did not live, and the modest
house where he did reside, taking daily walks down a shaded mango allee. Recent
school graduates walked the grounds, posing for photos on the picturesque
grounds. Terry found a great bowl of streetside pho for a couple dollars.
American dollars are preferred in Vietnam and bargaining is expected.
Nearby Halong Bay was a place of incredible limestone
karsts, islands and caves, some used by the Vietcong as hiding places during
the “American War.” We toured with Nancy and Jack, who were our tour buddies throughout the cruise. A hazy day contributed to the otherworldly appearance,
although the tour boats did not. A new provincial governor two years ago
ordered them all painted white, eliminating the colorful cerulean blue, ocher
and jade green-trimmed boats seen in earlier photos of this magical place.
Forced to comply or lose their licenses, boat owners bought cheap white paint
and hastily slopped in on the hulls, the excess spilling into the pristine bay,
a UNESCO World Heritage site. Unheard were boat owners’ complaints that the
newly-white boats become nearly invisible in the fog common to the area. Such
is life in a Communist country. We were fortunate to be among the last visitors
to observe the floating villages of the bay, where residents live in the
sheltered inlets, the floats providing necessities like a school and medical
clinic. The government has ordered the water people to move ashore in 2014,
forcing the fishing families to adapt to life on land. A private company will
manage the bay.
Despite everything, we found the Vietnamese to be sweet
people, candid and graced with a wry sense of humor.
Hanoi and Halong Bay photo show: http://www.photoshow.com/watch/sM2qT6Gr
Hoi An and Saigon
Traditionally-clad Vietnamese women met the ship at the dock
in Saigon, loosing dozens of colorful balloons into the sky.
We took a day trip to Hoi An, considered one of the
prettiest villages in Vietnam, with mostly pedestrian streets and a lively
market along the river. We shared a cab there from Da Nang with Graham and
Barbara, a British couple who’d taken this very cruise several times before. On
the way back, we asked the driver to take us to China Beach, famed surfing spot
enjoyed by American GI’s during the war. Today, its umbrella-dotted sands
recall Hawaii, or any tropical beach anywhere and resort hotels are
proliferating.
Saigon was frenetic and muggy, and we felt the impact of its
four million motorbikes. Hospital masks helped, but by the time we set sail for
Bangkok, I could only croak. Still, the city was interesting, the central
market, dubbed the Les Halles of Saigon, a lively hub of commerce and the
impact of the French more apparent in the former town hall (now Reunification
Hall) and other colonial buildings. Contrasted with Hanoi, the seat of
bureaucracy, Saigon is more modern and entrepreneurial.
We made our way to writer Graham Greene’s room #204 (he
chose a corner room) in the century-plus Continental Hotel, had a beer at the
rooftop bar of the Rex Hotel, rode in rickshaws (aka cyclos) and enjoyed some
good food. Unlike bleaker Hanoi, the upscale heart of Saigon had glittery
Christmas decorations on display – very incongruous snowmen and reindeer
heading up to the tropical sky. One night, the ship staged a festive dinner
ashore in a village-like setting, with traditional food, dance and crafts.
Throughout the daily jaunts, it was always a delight to
return to the comforts of the ship, with its enlightening lectures, delicious
food, custom coffees (“macchiato with an extra shot of espresso, please”) and
free-flowing cocktails.
Hoi An and Saigon photo show: http://www.photoshow.com/watch/IA7ym8tZ
Hoi An and Saigon photo show: http://www.photoshow.com/watch/IA7ym8tZ
Bangkok and Ayutthaya
Our stay in Bangkok was far more pleasant than the one in
2000, when Terry ended up in the hospital. Riding a mild wave of nostalgia, we
went to the river, once again having drinks on the terrace of the Mandarin
Hotel – this time coconuts –and visiting the nearby Royal Orchid, where we
stayed and swam in the garden pool each morning. Gone from the busy river
traffic were the teak barges we watched each day, since Thailand has since
banned logging, being the second-most deforested country in Southeast Asia after
Singapore, which isn’t obvious in that city’s green spaces. Also happily absent
were the elephants who had once lurked under the freeway overpasses, their
owners having brought the hungry animals into the city to beg. Pollution
actually seemed improved, with far fewer tuk-tuks on the streets, and more
cars. Perhaps as Vietnam grows more affluent, it too will have fewer
exhaust-spewing motorbikes on the streets.
We trekked to the ancient city of Ayutthaya, once the
grandest city in the known world and larger than London, now a series of
crumbling temple towers, sinking into the swampy ground at odd angles. The
ruins gave a sense of the power and riches that once existed there. The summer
palace nearby is still used by the royal family for official functions and
offers a peaceful oasis of calm and green. It’s easy to get “Buddha-d out” in
Thailand, with wats and shrines on every corner, but the enormous reclining
Buddha of Ayutthaya, with its attendant sleeping dogs, was memorable.
The guys had a Thai foot massage while Nancy and I practiced
spinning silk at the Jim Thompson house, once home to the noted silk dealer.
Then, blocked from the Chao Phraya river by one of those Bangkok demonstrations
that have been making the news, we instead roared down a neighborhood klong in
a boat that kicked up huge waves, debarking at the end of the line for a curry
lunch.
Bangkok and Ayutthaya photo show: http://www.photoshow.com/watch/ng2gS7iU
Bangkok and Ayutthaya photo show: http://www.photoshow.com/watch/ng2gS7iU
Singapore
Known for its draconian laws (“death to drug traffickers”)
and silly-seeming laws (fines for spitting or bringing chewing gum into the
country), Singapore was a pleasant surprise, with immaculate streets and
sidewalks (no gum or spit!) and verdant gardens. We had less than a full day,
but made the most of it, touring the futuristic and new Gardens by the Bay and the
1859 Botanic Garden, with its expansive grounds redolent of tropical scents, humidity
and the songs of countless unseen birds.
There are numerous specialty gardens within the garden, but my goal was
the orchid garden, less than 20 years old, but world-renowned. It was an orchid
lover’s vision of paradise, with orchids of all colors tucked into the trees,
cascading over arches and massed in colorful displays. A cool house with running
stream and waterfalls provided a home to the temperate climate mountain orchids,
seldom seen outside their native habitat.
Compared with Vietnam and Bangkok, traffic is relatively
quiet even in the heart of the city, and Singapore has designed it that way.
Public transit is excellent and the cost of owning a car prohibitive, with imported
cars assessed a 45% tariff, a $1,000-$5,000 registration fee AND an additional 150%
of value tax at vehicle registration.
Singapore was the first city in the
world to implement an electronic road toll collection
system for congestion pricing, which eliminates traffic jams. The
government wants residents to ride public transit, and they do.
With all its steel and glass modern architecture, Singapore contrasts with Hong Kong in preserving Colonial-era architecture, like the atmospheric
India Town and Chinatown, and the multi-million dollar Victorian mansions on
tony Orchard Road. It’s a vibrant city, and an expensive one. At about 1.25
Singapore dollars to the U.S. dollar, a gin-laden Singapore Sling at the
venerable Raffles Hotel was $27.Singapore photo show: : http://www.photoshow.com/watch/DR3Er9ke
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