Mariner - Bangkok to Hong Kong, 2/19 -3/19/19

[Hambagahle]

Those are wonderful photos!!

[1982CruzStart]

Thanks for your lovely pictures and comments. I very much appreciate when someone takes their valuable vacation time to take us along with them. 

Ha Long Bay - one of my favorite places in the world. Your pictures brought back great memories. 

[WesW]

Beautiful photos Jennifer & Georges.  Recognize the Chen style Tai Chi form he is

practicing.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Wow, stunning pix, thanks!

[ronrick1943]

Your post has been absolutely stunning---photos and all, really enjoying spending the time reading and looking forward to April when we depart for Asia for a few weeks and picking up a Regent cruise from Tokyo.  Thanks again for taking the time from your trip so many can enjoy.

 

[forgap]

Hanoi

 

We had a 7:30am departure for a 3 hour slog to Hanoi.  Was it worth it?   I’m not sure.  Unfortunately, our guide for the two days we were in port had barely decipherable English.   I’m pretty good with accents, but, honestly, there were times I was unable to figure out if he was speaking English or Vietnamese.  And, like all guides, he felt obligated to keep up a steady patter in the bus and while touring on foot. We also were on a very rushed schedule in order to see the sites that were promised on the itinerary.  

 

First, though, the obligatory stop at the oyster farm/showroom for a demonstration of how cultured pearls are made.  Mikimoto Pearls of Japan has a big presence in Halong Bay.    Since we had so little time in Hanoi, I think this stop could have been skipped.  

 

Come along with me as we did a speed tour through Hanoi!   I have lots of driveby shots of French colonial archetechture and street life!  

 

 

 

Our first stop was at the Hoa Lo Prison, better known as the Hanoi Hilton.  The exhibits were gruesome and chronicled the barbatic treatment by the French to the Vietnamese freedom fighters.   However, the exhibit that detailed the treatment of US pilots shot down by the Vietnamese made their treatment look like a walk in the park. Photos showed well fed men playing basketball, gardening, raising chickens, etc. - there was even a photo of John McCain getting medical treatment.  The first hand narratives obviously contradicted this propaganda.   

 

We went on to see the Temple honoring Confucius.  Since it was a time of graduation, many students who were hoping to matriculate were there to pray for success (and for a photo op!)

 

 

....a speed walk through the old quarter

 

..... a visit to Ho Chi Mihn’s tomb

...and a visit to the presidential palace

 

 

It was an exhausting day and I have to confess, we were in bed by 8!  

[Hambagahle]

Great "speed tour" of Hanoi.  I love those old yellow buildings - the University of Hanoi was just like that.  Did you get to Silk Street??  Used to be a favourite haunt of mine and I still have silk from there...  lovely memories!  Again, thank you!!

[forgap]

We are off the ship and in Xi’an,  China on our Regent post cruise.  I will update you on our last day at sea and our day in Hong  Kong before debarkation when we return to Hong Kong on Friday.  Our schedule in xi’an is incredibly intensive - up at dawn and back to the hotel after 9 or 10 each evening.  Thanks for your comments and following along!  

 

[merlot101]

Thanks for the information.  We will be on the Explorer with similar ports, but not until 2021.  We can't wait

[ronrick1943]

4 hours ago, forgap said:

We are off the ship and in Xi’an,  China on our Regent post cruise.  I will update you on our last day at sea and our day in Hong  Kong before debarkation when we return to Hong Kong on Friday.  Our schedule in xi’an is incredibly intensive - up at dawn and back to the hotel after 9 or 10 each evening.  Thanks for your comments and following along!  

 

 

Just a note, when returning to Hong Kong if you have time and really like true Peking Duck go to Spring Deer.  It's off Nathan Road at 42 Mody  Road.  It's up stairs, not fancy and mostly people that live in Hong Kong.  You do need to go early or make a reservation.  In fact on our Tokyo cruise this April we're going to Hong Kong to eat at the Spring Deer, it's that good.  Just an FYI!

[sassyw]

8 hours ago, ronrick1943 said:

 

Just a note, when returning to Hong Kong if you have time and really like true Peking Duck go to Spring Deer.  It's off Nathan Road at 42 Mody  Road.  It's up stairs, not fancy and mostly people that live in Hong Kong.  You do need to go early or make a reservation.  In fact on our Tokyo cruise this April we're going to Hong Kong to eat at the Spring Deer, it's that good.  Just an FYI!

We were just in Hong Kong the end of January and we ate at Spring Deer for the 3rd time. Wonderful Peking Duck. Had the concierge at our hotel make the reservation a month in advance!!!

[forgap]

We are back in Hong Kong after a 3 day post cruise in Xi’an, China.  It was spectacular and I will save the details for a later entry.  We are at the Shanghai-La Kowloon for a night before going to the Intercontinental for three nights on our own before going home.  

 

Our last day on the ship was a bust for me.  I think 15 days of gluttony finally caught up with me.   We had scheduled a tour of Hong Kong which was beautiful and well done (except for the jewelry factory) but the more the morning wore on the the sicker I felt.   We drove up to Victoria Peak for the tram ride down and I just stayed on the bus sleeping  until we were (gratefully) returned to the ship.  So, I was down all afternoon, all evening, and all night. Thankfully, I had packed so I was ready to disembark in the morning.  

 

I will share my impressions of the ship and the cruise in a later entry.  Time for the 7 star breakfast buffet at the Shanghai-la (according to our guide)!

 

Our sail-in to Hong Kong.

[cwn]

Loving your trip report. Thanks for taking your time to post and for the trip down memory lane. You have visited many of my favorites and the pictures are great!

 

I love Hong Kong and enjoyed our time at the InterContinenal  a few years ago. Hope your time is good too/

 

Thanks,

Carolyn

 

 

[forgap]

Before I get to our post-cruise, I wanted to write about my impressions of the ship and the cruise in general.   The Mariner is wider than Voyager and Navigator (the other two ships we have been on) so the public spaces are roomy and plentiful.  

 

 

(Confession:  this is the closest I got to the gym!)

 

The bars, in particular are more pleasant than on the other ships, each with a particular character.  Probably my favorite was the Mariner lounge outside of Compass Rose.  There was no view but it was like a cozy, comfortable living room with an elegant semi-circular bar presidedn over by Alexander who was a bar waiter two years ago.  

 

The ship width allows for the spaciousness, although this does not translate to the rooms!   The suites are bit squashed but after a few days you hardly notice the difference to the other two ships.   I loved the shower cabin but the water pressure was not as vigorous as the other two ships we have been on.  Our side of the ship had toilet vacuum  issues during the night but it was sorted out by morning.  I assumed that the system was being worked on during the night so as not to cause too much disruption to the passengers.  

 

I mentioned before that the passenger mix was very international for this voyage.  There were some cultural quirks in evidence but most everyone behaved themselves, including us!   We tend to stick to ourselves during cruises but we met some kindred spirits which is always a bonus. 

 

The cruise itself was not our favorite of all times but that reflects that the cruise was port intensive with long bus rides without the huge payoffs at the end of the ride (I’m talking about you, Petra and Luxor!). 

 

I wanted to give a special shout out to Laksman, the Head Sommelier who we met two years ago.  He is from Sri Lanka and has to be the sweetest man in the Regent fleet.  As an example, i was under the weather during the connoisseur’s wine lunch and had to leave.  He sent up an unfinished bottle of Dom Perignon from the lunch for when I felt better.  

 

Also, Arnel (AKA Rambo) in the Observation Lounge went out of his way to make a cocktail recipe I love with fresh lemon, mescal, and chartreuse.   We named it “The Arnel” in his honor!  I gave him the formula, he took a picture of my notes with his phone, and Voila!  

 

Finally, we had the pleasure of dining with Frank Galzy, the general manager, who is always a delight!  

 

I don’t want to leave you thinking that that we didn’t enjoy the cruise.  We did.   We learned some valuable lessons, though, about not feeling compelled to do everything.  In a later post, I may rate our excursions to help others with choices on similar cruises.  My next post will be about China and the Terra Cotta Warriors! 

 

This picture is for you, Wes!  

[flossie009]

Thanks for a great blog with gorgeous photos.

Hope you enjoy the rest of your time in Hong Kong, then have a safe journey home.

[DeepFreeze63]

Thanks for taking me along. DW and I join the Mariner in a month and replicate your trip next year (but on the Voyager).

Best wishes,

Jim C

[Zqueeze1]

We agree with you 100 percent regarding your observations about the Mariner Lounge. It is our favorite place to socialize with a drink and people watch. It’s a shame there isn’t a comparable lounge in the other ships (never been on Voyager). 

BTW, you have written a wonderful narrative and taken countless beautiful pictures. The one below  seems to captivate me the most. Of course, my extensive knowledge of photography comes from my classical training on the art of point and shoot (“he points out sarcastically.”), but it seems to personify your adventure.  I just love it. 

Z and TB

[forgap]

Post Cruise to Xi’an - Day One

 

Our disembarkation from the Mariner was at 8am and quite easy except for the long walk to the bus parking.   We docked at the Kai Tak Cruise terminal which used to be the airport.  I believe the busses were parked at the end of the complete runway!   At any rate, 22 of us made it to the bus and met our delightful guide, Katie (Ting-Ting) who welcomed us into her family for the next three days.  Katie is her anglicized name but Ting-Ting is the childhood diminutive that her mother called her.  Katie was, by far, the best guide we have ever had.  She was funny, clear with directions, and informative.  

 

We traveled to the airport which is about a 40 minute drive to Lantau Island.  The flight was  3 1/2 hours but an hour of that seemed to be on one runway or another.  We landed in Xi’an at about 3 pm and by the time we were through the border and had our bags and traveled to the city it was already 4:30.   Our schedule warned us that we probably would not get to the hotel until 8:30 or 9:00pm!  Most of us had been up since 6am so we looked a little bedraggled already.  

 

I didn’t expect Xi’an to be such a large city.  In the last two years the population has swelled from 9 million to 13 million.  High rise apartment buildings populate the landscape from well outside the city to the city center.

 

 I also didn’t expect to see capitalism and consumerism alive and well in China.  I guess my mindset was still stuck in the cultural revolution, but there were malls, 7-11’s, even Walmart!   I must confess I am ignorant on Chinese economic policies but our local guide, Alice, gave us some nuggets:  land is owned by the government but buildings are owned by developers;  the government controls the price of housing which (in her opinion) inflates the price of even modest apartments - her apartment is 5 square meters (which I think is VERY small so perhaps I misheard);  there is no universal health coverage - you need to buy insurance.

 

Xi’an is very clean with tree lined boulevards that broke up the endless expanse of concrete buildings.  Mid-March is very early spring but the bare trees were adorned with lanterns as we had just missed the Lunar New Year and the lantern festival.  It was very beautiful and picturesque.

 

 

 

 

Our first stop was to see the Da Ci’en Buddhist temple.  It wa a multi tiered pagoda and quite beautiful with multiple buildings housing statues of Buddha.  

 

It was now dusk, we were exhausted but the city was alive with people and lights.

 

 

Our dinner was at a famous dumpling restaurant.  We had a lazy Susan of starter dishes that really were enough to constitute dinner.  Then came steaming bamboo containers of dumpling after dumpling after dumpling.....rice wrappers, wheat wrappers, walnut wrappers, pork, chicken, shrimp, fish, beans, nuts, sugar.  I felt almost sick but kept on eating!    We rolled into the Sofitel at about nine, got to our rooms, and sank into bed in order to be on time for our 8:3Oam departure to see the warriors!  

 

[Mr Rumor]

Another great report!  Can't wait now to read about your encounter with the Terracotta Army.

 

 

[forgap]

Xi’an - Day Two

 

We were up and out bright and early after a capacious breakfast at the Sofitel.   Asian breakfast buffets are a revelation with cuisine options from around the world as well as juice concoctions with various medicinal properties.   I have been going all Asian this trip so my breakfast consisted of noodles and dim sum - with hot sauce, hearty soul that I am!  

 

We traveled for about 45 minutes through morning traffic in the city before pulling over to visit a factory that makes terra cotta warrior replicas.  The initial figures are done in molds then fancied up by hand.   They are left to dry for various time frames depending on the size, then fired in a kiln.  

If you are narcissistic enough, you can even have a warrior made with your face on It and have it shipped home! 

 

Of course, this stop was a dressed up shopping opportunity which was OK as we have had little time to get souvenirs, but I found prices a bit high......$23 for a t shirt after the $3 bargains in Vietnam didn’t cut it.  I did take home this warrior, though!

 

The site for the terra cotta warrior complex is about an hour or so outside of the city close to the start of a mountain range and depicts the armies of Qin Shi Huang who unified China and became the first emperor.  The mausoleum was started during his lifetime with the purpose of protecting the emperor in his afterlife.  The actual tomb of the emperor has not yet been excavated.   Caution is the watchword as the archeologist want to proceed slowly so as to preserve the pigmentation which was lost when unearthing the warriors. 

 

The figures date from approximately the late third century BC.  They were discovered in 1974 by a local farmers digging a well.  

Estimates suggest that the three pits containing the Terracotta Army held more than 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses, and 150 cavalry horses,.  Other terracotta non-military figures were found in other pits, including officials, acrobats, strongmen, and musicians.

 

The warriors were covered with a thatched roof and earth which collapsed and buried them completely through the centuries.  

It is like a giant jigsaw puzzle to put the pieces back together and, obviously, some heads are not on the original bodies.  All work is done at night, as this is a MAJOR tourist attraction and economic engine for the region. 

 

 

 

However, the historians have done their best to match uniforms with heads as there is considerable symbolism in the hairdos that go with each rank.  

 

The artisans tasked with crating this army were all buried alive with their creation.   I wondered if we were seeing the images of the men in the faces of the warriors.  Haunting and poetic, I think. 

This entry is getting a bit long and we managed to fit in much more on day two so stay tuned,  

Edited March 18, 2019 by forgap

[ronrick1943]

You know when you think it can't get better---it just keeps getting better and better.  You really know how to put a story together, thanks so much-you're a talented person that enjoys life and sharing with others.

[forgap]

Xi’an Day Two - Part Two

 

After lunch at the museum - another feast  this time with traditional Xi’an noodles.  Katie said that when you order this noodle, they ask “...one or two?”.  Well, the noodles go on forever so you are better off with one!

 

We have learned on this trip that the Chinese people love to eat and they can go on eating for hours.  I’m not sure how, as a culture, they manage to stay thin as I have certainly gained weight despite walking for much of the day.  

 

After the warriers, we drove back to town to visit the Muslim quarter of Xi’an and one of the oldest mosques in China.  Muslims are well integrated in Xi’an with a population of about 70,000.  I had heard about the government’s efforts to “re-educate” Muslims in other parts of China, but this is not the case in Xi’an as Muslims have lived here for thousands of years.  

 

The mosque is a large and tranquil place set within a large pedestrian quarter.

 

 

Xi’an was a major player on the Silk Road so cultures, religions, and artifacts reflect this legacy,   The Muslim quarter was alive with people - natives and tourists alike - with thousands of food shops and restaurants of infinite variety.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Who doesn't love Chinese cotton candy?

 

It was now nearing 5pm  and we were promised some down time before the evening performance of a Tang Dynasty pageant.

 

The down time dwindled to 45 minutes by the time we got to the hotel.  A ten minute “toes up”  and we were back on the bus for a short ride to the theater.  

 

We all expected a lousy banquet dinner and a cheesy performance which turned out to be anything but.  The food was course after course of interesting things, the wine was undrinkable, the beer was terrific and the show was stunning.  It was fascinating that much of what the show illustrated what we saw in tomb paintings the next day in the museum.  

 

[liptastic]

Stunning photographs. It was wonderful to feel involved in your terra cotta exhibition/visit.

Thanks so much for this great thread.     Jean.

[Hambagahle]

Just wonderful!!  Thank you (again and again!)  Gerry

[PaulaJK]

Thank you for your fabulous travelogue and these stunning photos...could not be better.