Author: Jonathan

Wow, it’s been an intense several days! No time for blogging, so I’ll have to catch up over the course of the next several days. We got up at 3:30 a.m. Sunday to depart the Orion for the last time. After confirming that we had the right suitcases in the port terminal, we boarded the bus and headed for Bangkok’s international airport at 4:45. Viking handled everything for us at the airport, and it was a smooth flight on a turboprop to Siem Reap airport in Cambodia. We flew in over a vast lake surrounded by flooded rice paddies stretching as far as we could see. The airport at Siem Reap was modern and uncrowded, and the customs and immigration process was amazingly fast. Soon we were on the bus to our hotel, the Park Hyatt Siem Reap—a beautiful hotel!--to drop off our bags and head out immediately for lunch. Lunch was at Mahob Khmer restaurant, a converted old wooden house. We’d...

Just a quick blog update - we have to finish packing and get our bags ready for pickup! We leave the ship at 0430 tomorrow…ugh. What a glorious, warm day in Bangkok! My dad and my brother visited here many times during the Vietnam War era, but I’d never been here other than to pass through the airport in 1983. In case you didn't know, Bangkok's official name is "Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Ayuthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Piman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasit." That translates as, "The city of angels, the great city, the residence of the Emerald Buddha, the impregnable city of God Indra, the grand capital of the world endowed with nine precious gems, the happy city, abounding in an enormous Royal Palace that resembles the heavenly abode where reigns the reincarnated god, a city given by Indra and built by Vishnukarn." The highlight of the tour today was a trip to the Royal...

We had a change in plans today when we heard that our original excursion (to ride elephants at the Koh Samui Elephant Preserve) was going to involve a lot of off-road travel in the back of a pickup truck. We opted to save our spines and instead go for a dip at Chaweng Beach. The Orion anchored offshore and we tendered in aboard local boats. After a 45-minute van ride, we arrived at the beach town of Chaweng. After a bit of confusion with how to rent beach chairs (our excursions manager reminded us beforehand that “English is widely understood but not necessarily widely spoken”), we had a relaxing float in the warm and calm South China Sea with our cruise friends Gary and Chris Terbeek, whom we’ve been with since Athens. We could see the good stupa of the Wat Khao Hua Jook Buddhist temple on a hill in the distance. Smaller Buddhist shrines are almost everywhere you look in Koh...

For those of you who are taking or planning to take cruises, it might be worth your while to stop by Guest Services on the ship and inquire as to whether they offer a tour of the ship’s bridge. They don’t advertise these tours, but they’re often available. Today I got a chance to see the bridge of a latest-generation ocean liner. I went to Deck 6 of the Viking Orion whilst we were in the middle of the Gulf of Thailand, off the east coast of Malaysia. My first impression was how sparse it is! Of course, most things are computer-controlled these days. The Captain leaves the day-to-day driving to his helmsmen. He takes over the controls only when the ship is docking. I wasn’t prepared to see that the Captain uses a trackball and a joystick for fine control of the ship during docking! Of course, he has control over the thrusters and the engines during this process. There are parallel control stations on...

Singapore was high on our bucket list of places to visit someday. I’m happy that we had the opportunity to spend a few hours in this amazing city. Even before we docked, the daybreak sight of myriad ships in the harbor gave us a hint of the level of activity we might expect in the city. When we entered the arrivals hall at the port, I laughed at the sound of numerous immigration agents making a big show out of stamping each passport and entry/exit card multiple times. “Bam-bam-bam-bam-bam!” resounded from all over the cavernous room. Our Singaporean guide (Andrew) was of Chinese descent; his grandparents came to the island to work back in the early 1900s. He was a real hoot and was an excellent representative for the country. “We have mandatory military service for two years starting when you are 18. Then every year for the next 10 years, you must report for military training and must stay in good...

We had a lightning tour of Kuala Lumpur (KL, as the locals call it) today. KL came about as a town built around a tin mine, and it blossomed into eventually becoming Malaysia’s capital. KL is inland, about 60 km from Port Klang, where we docked this morning. (I can’t see “Klang” without thinking of Leo McKern in “Help!”) Our first stop of the day was the “Blue Mosque,” formally known as the Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Mosque, or the SSAA Mosque. It’s located in Shah Alam, a city between Port Klang and KL. It’s the largest mosque in Malaysia and the second-largest in southeast Asia. The 350-ft. tall dome is the world’s largest dome on a religious building. We then fought our way through the end of rush hour into KL proper. Other than the tropical trees (betel nut, papaya, banana, etc.) that gave away the tropical location of the city — and the fact that people drive on the left...

Today was our first of two ports of call in Malaysia. This was at George Town on the island of Penang. George Town was established by the British East India Company in 1798. The British brought in Chinese and Indian laborers to clear the island. Even today the area retains an interesting mix of ethnic Malays and the descendants of the Indians and Chinese, as well as more than 100 years of British rule. As we left the port, we drove through the old part of town, where citizens came to the “wet market” for a breakfast of noodles and grilled meat. Kek Lok Si Temple Our first top was at the Kek Lok Si Temple, the largest Chinese temple in Southeast Asia. The first temple on the site was started in 1890, and new buildings have been added throughout the ensuing century. The climb to the main pagoda looked pretty steep from the bottom, but fortunately the many staircases were broken up by...

Sri Lankans greet each other with hands pressed together in front of the heart in a prayer-like manner and by saying, “Ayubowan” (ah-you-BOH-anh). This roughly translates as “I wish you good health and a long life,” and it’s used as a greeting and a farewell. We weren’t really sure what to expect from our two days here. Viking's excursions staff forewarned us that Sri Lanka is a poor country, and conditions might not be as good as we had in India. We found the opposite to be the case. Colombo Development is booming in Sri Lanka, particularly in its financial capital, Colombo. The Chinese are pouring money into the country. They’re financing the Lotus Tower, which at 1,150 feet will be the tallest self-supporting structure in south Asia. The not-so-secret goal of the Chinese is to gain a foothold in the Indian Ocean and keep India in check. This comes at a price for Sri Lanka, though. The country wasn’t able to make its...

We docked this morning in Mormugao, a port in the Indian state of Goa. Goa was a Portuguese colony and the last state of India to gain independence from foreign occupation, in 1961. The Portuguese influence still shows strongly in the brightly colored buildings and homes in the area. Today’s excursion took us to the Tropical Spice Plantation, a few kilometers north of the town of Ponda. After three days in one of the most densely-populated cities on the planet, it was a refreshing change to get out into the countryside. We even caught a fleeting glimpse of monkeys in the trees beside the road. Crossing the low bridge over the lakebed to get to the farm was a little unsettling. The bridge planks were rounded halves of trees, covered with burlap and then a layer of rubber. The footing felt a little unsteady! The “tourist” side of the operation is a pathway through a verdant maze of various types of spice plants and...