and so it begins.....RTW16

[no fuss travel]

The dog picture sitting in the fruit is adorable. Hope everyone looks at your blog to see it.

I should have been more specific about the elbows. You use them for protection. My daughter says that my elbows are lethal protection as they are so boney and sharp.

[riandei]

The dog picture sitting in the fruit is adorable. Hope everyone looks at your blog to see it.

I should have been more specific about the elbows. You use them for protection. My daughter says that my elbows are lethal protection as they are so boney and sharp.

 

is there a link posted to the blog ??

[TenerifeSharon]

is there a link posted to the blog ??

 

Here you go:

http://www.drdavebradley.blogspot.de/

 

It's a wonderful blog!

[Bowie MeMe]

... as to the elbows, they are a survival means in a crowd that might push you to fall down. Yes, do not hit anybody with your elbows, but don't make yourself small. That's my experience in a huge mainland Chinese train station.

 

Oh I so wish I COULD make myself small. I am a large lady with a loud voice who taught elementary school for most of 40 years. I am a force to be reckoned with in a crowd. :D

 

In China, trying to cross a very busy street in Beijing with my cousin, I had to laugh at myself. I looked at my hand that was holding on for dear life to the side of a bicycle delivery truck and trotting my fat little legs as fast as they would go. The bicycle truck cleared the way through the traffic in a way I would never have dared to. When we finally got to the other side of the street, it was sweet indeed -- our first time on our own (no guide/car/driver or translater ) and we found McDonald's and Starbucks! At least we could order from the picture menu -- the day before I ordered silk worms thinking the dish looked like "meatballs":D. Travel does humble sometimes but you feel so smart and competent when you solve enough problems to get what you need no matter where you are. And 99% of the time, people on the street all over the world , try to help if you have a smile on your face and are trying. The one impossible situation -- trying to find mousse for curly hair in Xian, China!!

[Emma Chisit]

Does O have an unlimited laundry plan for those of us in the cheaper seats ? Only my 3rd O cruise but my 30th cruise. Just learned on my 18 day HAL cruise that they do have laundry service for about $7 a day. This is a thing that I am really looking forward to. I do know that O has laundry room but since there are so few machines (even for the small size of ship) it gets to be a hassle to get the laundry done -- especially on a jam packed itinerary.

I hope their is a prepay laundry service or can use OBC.

 

We were on a “Grand Voyage” (71 days Miami to Singapore) and free laundry was one of the perks, as it was for the World Cruisers. They did an excellent job with the laundry; things came back ironed and on hangers, or in the case of undies wrapped in tissue paper. Occasionally I washed a few things that I didn’t want to trust to a commercial dryer and so I experienced the laundry room - which didn’t seem too crowded, maybe because of the number of people getting free laundry. Except after it reopened following the closure due to the Noro outbreak. There was also a discounted laundry deal offered from time to time, more frequently (or so I believe) during the Noro outbreak. I didn’t keep the details of this, but probably it was as LHT28 has said, something like 20 pieces for $24.99.

There was nothing like the prepaid laundry you mention as offered on HAL, which we had on Windstar (which was excellent also).

[cbb]

We just returned today from 3 days/2nights in Angkor Wat to see a discussion here about laundry. Trust me....the crew doing our laundry should get paid extra for handling ours...and the rest of the gang that went with us.

 

It was really, really hot (like 98 all day hot) so that when we peeled our clothes off last night and hung them to dry...they weren't dry this morning. Yes, our rooms were a/c but they were just so soaked from the previous day AND they were the performance clothing that supposedly dries quickly. Columbia and REI need to do their field testing in Cambodia!

 

We thought O excursion people did a terrific job. It wasn't their fault our first attempt to fly from Sihanoukville to Angkor was cancelled. The next flight was just a little later and it was a full flight.

 

We arrived at the hotel, rooms and keys were ready, and we freshened up a little from the flight and went to dinner. Buffet dinner was outside and was Cambodian and some western food but everyone was able to find something they could eat.

 

Young dancers and musicians entertained us while we dined by performing classical Cambodian dances which were first explained to us. A young man trying to get the attention of a young woman needed no explanation!!

 

We were in the Le Meridien Hotel and it was lovely. Note: if you decide that you are too tired to venture out for DIY dinner, the place where you have breakfast has both a buffet and a la carte menu. Knowing this, we opted for the a la carte menu and had a wonderful steak (Aussie beef) on yummy bread with fries. Nice change from the Cambodian food we'd been having.

 

Several people in our group did not know about the a la carte menu and went with the buffet, which was much more expensive and much more food that people wanted after a long day of touring.

 

Day 2 was buffet breakfast at the hotel and there was a wide variety of foods available. We then were divided into 2 groups (yellow & blue) and climbed aboard the appropriate buses...approximately 25 or perhaps a little less for each bus. Again, this was very well organized.

 

Off we went first to Angkor Thom complex. We visited the Southern Gate, Bayon Complex as well as the Elephants Terrace and Leper King. The sites were absolutely incredible and I didn't realize how intricate the carvings were on the stones.

 

Off to the Ta Prohm Temple with the creeping tree roots taking over everything....except they're not quite doing that. This place was a lot less green, mossy, strangling vegetation as I'd pictured. First, we were visiting in the dry season so very little was green and secondly, several countries are helping the Cambodians with restoration and part of the restoration consists of ridding the stones of the mosses and roots...even if it means taking down some of the trees.

 

Lunch followed at a local restaurant and once again a wide variety of food on the buffet tables as well as a choice of bottled water, soft drinks or local beer. Quite a few decided to opt for Angkor beer.

 

In the afternoon we drove to Bantey Srei, aka the Women's Citadel that has nothing to do with females, but rather the pinkish color of the stones. This was the last major Khmer temple to be "discovered."

 

Finally, we went to Angkor Wat and stayed long enough for sunset. We were particularly proud of ourselves for being fit enough and agile enough to climb the stairs to the top....go us!!! There was quite a bit of haze in Angkor's skies so that while the color on the stones facing west was lovely, there was no fabulous sunset.

 

Of all the places we've visited so far, I feel the most emotional over Cambodia. Most Americans forget, or never knew, that we dropped millions of bombs in Cambodia to try and stop supplies coming down the Ho Chi Minh Trail from reaching the Vietcong and North Vietnamese armies.

 

In 1973 by Congressional Act the US terminated bombing Cambodia leaving more than 1 million people killed, wounded, or permanently maimed and much of the population displaced. Then the Khmer Rouge came to power.

 

The wonderful temples and buildings of Angkor were built by the great Khmer empire who knew math, astronomy, and design and were built in the 1100s. The awful power of the Khmer Rouge took their name from this ancient empire, applied some "Communist" beliefs (hence the "red) and attempted to turn Cambodia into an agricultural forced-labor camp.

 

Pol Pot, the leader, wanted to make Cambodia a place where there were no wealthy, no educated, no class divisions, no money, no books, no schools, no hospitals...it was to be Year Zero....a peasant economy.

 

Children were separated from their parents, the educated were executed, you could report your neighbors as enemies and could see the entire family, including babies killed. Torture centers were set up and whole cities were emptied and the population sent to the "killing fields" where they were to grow rice, not to feed their families but to feed Pol Pot's soldiers.

 

By the time a peace accord is signed in 1991, historians' research say that 1.7 million Cambodians have died, there is no currency, no banks, no postal system, no phones, no sanitation, water, or electricity and of 450 practicing physicians 45 remained. Of 20,000 teachers and professors, maybe 7000 survived.

 

The population was murdered, starved, or died of disease or being literally worked to death.

 

Our guide, in his 30s, says only recently has his father begun to tell stories of his time in the fields and that every night he prayed to die.

 

The reason I wrote on the recent history of Cambodia is the remarkable progress the country seems to be making. Much of the population is under 30 and schools are being built, new houses on stilts are popping up all over, (to escape flooding that occurs yearly in the rainy season,) banks have opened, chain hotels are there, and motor bikes are everywhere.

 

If you know of someone who wants to make a difference, tell them to come to Cambodia to teach or to help in the clinics and hospitals. Children in some villages can only go to school for 1/2 day since there are so many children and so few teachers.

 

Police and signs remind tourists not to buy from children selling goods because it simply encourages their parents to keep them out of school.

 

The Cambodian people are so hard working and so determined to rebuild their communities and their families. They are sweet and so anxious for us to tell everyone to come to Cambodia as tourism is their hope and promise of a great future.

Edited March 22, 2016 by cbb

[Not landlubbers]

I just wanted to tell you what a fabulous trip I am having through your reports and photos! So many places I haven't been to but also wonderful memories of trips my partner and I have done! We too loved Cambodia and your reflections on the lovely people matched ours! Continue to enjoy your adventure! Love your spirit,your positive outlook on life and your appreciation of Oceania!! Keep on ,keeping on!

[no fuss travel]

So they have now posted signs saying not to buy from the children. They were not there in 2008. You brought back some very pleasant memories of being at Siem Reap. We saw all the same temples you did. Our guide at the time was growing up during the war and the Kumar Rouge time. He was telling us how his friends and him used a bomb crater as a swimming hole. He also talked about how his parents were imprisoned, and his grandparents secretly taught him and his siblings how to read and write. The grandparents were reported and taken away. It was a hard life, but all he could say is that things are looking much brighter today than when he was growing up. He told us that the Cambodians were looking towards the future, but remembering their past so that they did not make the same mistakes again. Incredible country to visit.

[Floridiana]

the population sent to the "killing fields" where they were to grow rice, not to feed their families but to feed Pol Pot's soldiers.

 

 

The "killing fields" are literally what the name says. There are about 200 in the country. The one we saw - river cruise - was a former Chinese cemetery. They had a loudspeaker blaring loud music so people in the surroundings could not hear the screams of the people clubbed to death. There is a memorial pagoda in the center with the collected skulls of the victims.

 

In addition, city people were sent to labor camps to grow rice. Thousands died of starvation, exhaustion and disease. I remember glimpses of that time in the news. But journalists had to leave the country to save their life. One Australian correspondent is on the list of dead in Tuol Sleng prison in Phnom Penh. I wish I had never spent my first morning in Cambodia visiting those two horrid places. You are lucky that you went to Siam Reap first.

 

By the way, we had dinner a la carte in Le Meridien one night, but our group stayed in the Sofitel up the street.

[Aussie Gal]

We too were very moved when we visited Cambodia. We went to Phnom Phenh first of all and saw the killing fields there as well as where they were imprisoned in one of the schools. It did leave a huge imprint on us. Whilst there, we went to the market and other places where there were locals and looking around we realized we were the oldest of everyone. There was no-one older than 50 in the crowded market. They had all been killed by the Khmer Rouge.

 

We then went by road to Siem Reap which was most interesting and once in Siem Reap we spent 5 days there visiting all the temples etc. Whilst we were in Cambodia, some farmers were blown up on a road as they were driving their tractor along. It is terrible to think that these bombs were the result of the huge bombing that occurred in Cambodia during the 60's and early 70's and that they are still affecting the lovely people of that country today.

 

Jennie

Edited March 22, 2016 by Aussie Gal

[Floridiana]

It's true, not many old people in the market, but the monastery we visited provides a home for (mostly) elderly women whose families were killed. They are not nuns, just living there protected and helping out with the chores. Of course, there are nuns as well and monks. Life is difficult for old people without children and grandchildren to take care of them.

[Emma Chisit]

We had wanted to visit Angkor Wat since the 1960s, after hearing a friend’s stories of how wonderful it was. For so many years it could not be visited, as we all know. In the 1990s tourists started to come back after the

Paris Peace Accord, but Cambodia was far from settled and there had been murders of tourists by Khmer Rouge guerrillas/bandits in 1994 and 1995. We visited in 1999 and were advised to fly between Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, as other methods of travel were not considered safe. Angkor Wat was as beautiful as expected, but my trip diary notes that our overwhelming impression of the people we met was of great sadness and pain after decades of turmoil. It is good to hear that seventeen years on there is a more positive outlook for the new generation. The challenge will be to prevent the massive surge in tourism from damaging the site, and to ensure that the financial benefits of tourism filter down to those most in need.

[PaulMCO]

We are on Nautica tomorrow with a side trip to to Cambodia next week to Angkor Wat..

 

You mentioned 98 and high humidity. Any rain???

Sounds great -- sitting in Hong Kong with 5 days of cold and rain... Looking forward to HOT...:D

[Floridiana]

It should not rain, rainy season begins in a few months.

[cbb]

paulmco....be careful what you wish for....angkor wat was, according to someone who was with us and had a temperature app, 104. Even our guides were mopping their brow.

 

Today we took a shorex entitled OE Good Morning Vietnam (after the famous Robin Williams movie) and it was an apt description. Our tour was totally about the war, the buildings in Saigon that were important in the war and a visit to the Cu Chi tunnels and then lunch. Eleven were in our group.

 

We had to be back on board by 2:30 and we hit it on the dot, but in order to do everything, we were off the ship at 7am.

 

The guide did a great job of not offending anyone. He called some troops "American" not the "enemy" and "Vietcong", not "liberators." We were taken to the War Remnants Museum which contains mostly photographs taken by professional war photographers.

 

We also saw the Caravelle Hotel which had a roof-top bar where the correspondents and secret agent types used to drink and observe the war.

It still is standing but there is a high-rise new Caravelle Hotel behind it.

 

For those of you who have not been to HCM City for some time, the bicycles are gone and have been replaced by motorbikes. Everyone wears a helmet and a face mask but these are now made fashionable with the Burberry plaid and Hello, Kitty being the most popular!

 

Lunch was at a restaurant on the Saigon River, but since we were an hour north of the city the river was pretty small in width, not the broad river where we were docked. We had a great mixture of Vietnam foods-- pork, chicken, fish, vegetables, rice and noodles; everyone found something to eat!

 

I think this is an excellent excursion for those who are interested in the war. HCM City is changing rapidly; the city center is being torn up to put in an underground subway right at the Opera House. I asked our guide if I return in 10 years will all of the motor bikes be gone....and he ruefully admitted that he didn't think so.

 

I hope officials are very careful not to tear down the older buildings, particularly the French colonial buildings since they give the city its charm and reflects its history. In 10 years HCM City will be a remarkably modern southeast Asian city.

 

For those of you saddened by the thought that the US lost the war, take heart...the American dollar is accepted and appreciated everywhere!

[PaulMCO]

paulmco....be careful what you wish for....angkor wat was, according to someone who was with us and had a temperature app, 104. Even our guides were mopping their brow.

 

Thanks... :D My DW will likely shoot me for wishing for warm weather.... I go back to the Middle East right after this trip.. So it will be just like home...

 

Love your Saigon tour. I did something similar on my first trip to HCM in 1997. My host/customer said "Mr. PaulMCO you need not be afraid -- the war is over."

 

You will find the same in Hanoi - except a slower pace.

Edited March 23, 2016 by PaulMCO

[no fuss travel]

Our guide told us the reason why everyone wears a helmut is that if they are caught without one, the fine is the same as the price of a helmut. Smart move on the part of the government. Mind you some of the helmets they wear would not give them much protection.

Did you have fun watching what they were carrying on the motorcycles. Going to and from our Mekong River tour, we were fascinated watching how much they could fit onto those bikes. The best one we saw was 2 long ladders and a flat screen TV.:D

[cbb]

Can't decide whether the guy carrying stacks of electronic equipment or a refrigerator on the back of his motorbike wins the prize for most amazing thing carried!

 

Thought I'd give some of you all some advice on clothing. Several of the women (coming from cold country in January) brought clothing they can't wear. Y'all need to bring light-weight clothing if you are traveling in this part of the country.

 

I stuck in a pair of "zippy" pants from REI at the last minute and I've been wearing them for over 3 weeks on shorex.(yes, I've washed them out and so has laundry service).

 

Women have to be covered up when visiting mosques, pagodas, temples, so we're talking pants/skirts to ankles in most places. Shoulders need to be covered, and some places we have to wear long sleeves. Just be aware of what you pack. Light weight and cool is crucial.

 

Some women have bought long cotton loose pants (with elephants on them in a wide variety of colors in many markets) and cotton tunic tops and are wearing those.

 

Most men can get by with long shorts and tee shirts. Mr. Wonderful wears the zippy pants and long sleeve travel type shirts that can be washed out in the shower and donned again the next morning.

 

If you go on "overlands" on your RTW adventures, pack lightly....as in change of underwear, something to sleep in, toothpaste, meds, etc and stuff it in a backpack....you can thank me later. These "travel" types of clothing usually dries overnight....some of the cotton didn't.

 

Several people take rolling suitcases which then must be checked regardless of size and that is a pain to wait on those to come down the belt. You will be hot and sticky, so don't waste your good clothes on climbing pagoda steps, etc.

 

take a hat, lots of sunscreen, spritz some bug spray when you're in the locations the CDC tells you to & sunglasses. Just don't take a lot of clothes on the overnights. Trust me, no one notices what you are wearing...they're too busy pulling sticky shirts away from wet backs!! c

[Floridiana]

I can confirm, excellent advice!

 

My husband wore zipp-off pants, never zipped off. I wore either long or capri style pants by L.L.Bean, performance tropical fabric for hikers. I wore loose cotton or linen tops, can't stand performance fabric for the tops. I added a simple loose silk top in Vietnam, not the flimsy stuff. Some women wore thin loose cotton tunics from India and the ubiquitous loose pants with elephants on them.

[buggins0402]

Cynthia,

 

I was wondering how most of the RTW'ers are doing with regard to anti-malarial meds since you are running in and out of areas where it is a problem. Is most of the group taking meds or relying on sprays and covering up with treated clothes, or doing both?

[cbb]

morning! re: anti- malarial.

 

We had to go off malarone because Mr Wonderful became quite ill taking it. He was so nauseated all the time, even in port he complained of being sea sick.

 

He absolutely was taking it as his doctor prescribed and we began taking it 2 days before a port and 7 days after and because there were so many ports that the CDC said were malarial we were taking a pill for weeks.

 

He finally went to the doctor on board and the first thing the doc asked was if he was taking malarone.

 

Several passengers had been to see him and he spun the info around so that the patient could see the side effects list --1st or 2nd line item was nausea--the other being terrible headache. This is a man who never suffers from medicinal side effects!

So we went off the pills.

 

We wear long pants that have been treated with permethrin, same with long sleeve shirts and socks.

 

We then sprayed ourselves with oil of lemon eucalyptus which Consumer Reports gives a very high rating. We also brought good ol 'Deet with us, the other highly rated one. Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus smells a lot better than Deet!!!

 

Since we are in the dry season here, are rarely out before dawn or after dark, mostly in urban centers, mostly inside, we haven't seen many mosquitoes.

 

The dry season, evidently is even dryer this year than it used to be and many of the guides talk about it getting worse and do blame climate change.

 

The ship is very good about putting small spray bottles of insect repellent at the foot of the bed and encourages people to use it if they didn't bring their own.

 

hope this answers your questions!

 

rockin and rollin this am as we head for Ha Long Bay. It is 6:45am as I type this and we are due there around 2pm. We're seeing our first rain in a really long time and visibility isn't great.

 

Hopefully we'll sail through this as a junk cruise in driving rain isn't my idea of fun....still when i think where we are and that i'm getting ready to board a junk for an overnight cruise i know how lucky i am. Rain? No biggie!!

[Floridiana]

I hope it cleared up for Ha Long Bay.

[BabySis]

cbb, our friends Barb McCollough and Steve are on your cruise..... we LOVE reading about it. We are taking Nautica Cape Town to Singapore on January 5, 2017,.

 

Would you share your vendor for Mombasa, please. dinahsue at dinahfuller dot com We absolutely MUST do that!!

[buggins0402]

Thank you so much for the anti-malarial information.

 

Your wonderful blog has led us to research Safari vacations in South Africa for a big trip next year (unfortunately a RTW isn't in our budget). My original plan was a Vietnam/Cambodia with Hong Kong thrown in because we haven't been there. But, when I showed your safari blog pictures to DH, I could tell that is where he wanted to go (we've been to China, Thailand and Japan ...so we have experienced a bit of the east).

 

DH needs a fitness center and most of the camps with fitness centers and great wildlife viewing (and not cheap) are in Kruger which is a Malarial zone and it would be wet season (February) hence my question. Unfortunately for DH, if there is an adverse side effect from a med...his body will find it. He almost died last year from a reaction to toenail fungus meds.

 

But, I'll be showing him the Cambodia/Vietnam pics this weekend...we could go back to Plan A! The trip we'd do there has only a bite size Malaria area.

 

Thanks again on the Malaria information.

Edited March 25, 2016 by buggins0402

[tvmovielover]

Thank you so much for the anti-malarial information.

 

Your wonderful blog has led us to research Safari vacations in South Africa for a big trip next year (unfortunately a RTW isn't in our budget). My original plan was a Vietnam/Cambodia with Hong Kong thrown in because we haven't been there. But, when I showed your safari blog pictures to DH, I could tell that is where he wanted to go (we've been to China, Thailand and Japan ...so we have experienced a bit of the east).

 

DH needs a fitness center and most of the camps with fitness centers and great wildlife viewing (and not cheap) are in Kruger which is a Malarial zone and it would be wet season (February) hence my question. Unfortunately for DH, if there is an adverse side effect from a med...his body will find it. He almost died last year from a reaction to toenail fungus meds.

 

But, I'll be showing him the Cambodia/Vietnam pics this weekend...we could go back to Plan A! The trip we'd do there has only a bite size Malaria area.

 

Thanks again on the Malaria information.

 

We went to South Africa last fall during the dry season. I sprayed our clothes with Premithrin(sp?) and we used lots of Ultrathon especially from dusk to dawn. We were not bitten even in the Okavango Delta where the mosquitoes were around a lot. One pair on our tour went to Kruger before the tour for 2 days and saw a lot of wildlife so you might consider going at a different time of year. South Africa, Zimbabwe and the Delta were great not to belittle Southeast Asia.