Saigon

Well I am completely bummed out to say the least.  Yesterday I contracted what they call Delhi's Belly, even though we aren't in India anymore.  Drs. put me on Cipro and advised me to cancel my trip to Cambodia !!! the one place I really looked forward to after 50 years.  And then I was depressed that I could even say I was there 50 years ago.  Friends on board ship couldn't believe it and finally I said: Yes I'm 72, damn it.  To make matters worse, it is raining.  Thank God, we have the balcony and can see outside.  Rick will have to write about Cambodia.

We arrived in Vietnam early Saturday and traveled up the Mekong river to Saigon, now Ho Chi Minh City. the trip we had contracted with left shortly after we docked. I joined 56 others for a one hour flight from Saigon to Phnom Penh. We split the group into two buses and set out for the  National museum.  I was busy taking pictures of apartment buildings where Joan may have lived in the 1960s, when our bus conked out. Great start to a lonesome trip!

New bus took us to the National Museum, a large area that included several buildings/temples and beautifully landscaped grounds.
Next stop was a"sunset cruise" on the Mekong river. Except it was only about 5:00 PM.  The Mekong is joined by 2 other rivers at this point making it a major method of transportation.
Back on bus to an orphanage visit before dinner.
Sad conditions for schooling and care.

Next day started at 6 AM with visit to the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda.

We then traveled to the Toul Sleng Museum. In the past the museum was a high school. In April 1975, Pol Pot transformed it into an office called S-21 which was the biggest prison  in Cambodia.Thousands of victims were  imprisoned and tortured.  We then traveled about 15 kilometers to the " killingfields".              Since 1981, more than a hundred mass graves  have been found. This is the place where they killed the victims of the S-21 prison. Each grave contains an average of 100 skulls, and the remains of clothing, of men,women, and children.  

We then visited the central market, shopped and flew to Siem Reap. Left at 5 AM for sunrise photos of Angkor Wat Temple.  No sun but hundreds of people with cameras. Angkor Wat is huge, surrounded by an enormous moat, and began in 1113. The kingdom of Angkor endured until the end of the 16th century.

We also visited Ta Prohm temple before lunch. Then on to the South gate of Angkor Thom, Bayon, Baphuon, Terraces of Leper King and the Elephant terraces.And so to our flight back to Saigon.

Hurray, Joan is much better and we go shopping, drinks at the top of the Rex Hotel ( a famous gathering place for officers and such during the war), and dinner at TTT Guon Nom, a Vietnamese barbeque restaurant.  We cooked our own boar, beef and prawns at the table. And now we leave for Hong Kong. Two days down the Mekong river and across the China Sea.

Sorry for all the open space, but I cannot get these pics to go where I want them. Rick

Singapore

 Wednesday. March 16, we spent a day in Singapore which is absolutely beautiful, modern, clean, great streets, and we could learn a few things from the city administration.  Laws are stringent regarding littering, spitting, chewing gum, failing to flush a public toilet!, jaywalking, smoking in any public place but bars and designated places. or eating on the subway.  The subway system is clean, lots of escalators, easy directions (although we managed to get lost; well not exactly lost, but in the wrong place) and fast.  The government is involved in every aspect of Singaporean life, including housing.

Since the island is small (the size of  Chicago), there are few single level homes but rather thousands of high rise apartment/condo buildings.  Shopping centers, and they are gorgeous, go up rather than out and Orchard Road is probably as famous as Rodeo Drive in LA for designer clothes and luxury items.  Asians, Australians and Europeans go to Singapore for shopping, but there are several centers to choose from. 

The population is 77% Chinese, but since Singapore and Malay once formed a country, there are  14% Malays aand 8% Indian.  In Singapore itself there is an Arab quarter, Indian, Chinese, and English.

English colonial buildings have been beautifully preserved amongst all the new, modern skyscrapers.  The new ones on the left are curved and look like they are falling over.  We docked a block to the right of these building.

We first went on an orientation bus tour at 9:30 am, which I always like, to get the lay of the land.  The first place we went was up to the mountain for a 360 degree view of the city.  Then we went to a precious stone polishing and cutting gallery, where, of course, we exited through the sales room.   Then we went to the Botanical Gardens where we took 20 minutes to tour the orchid section which was absolutely fabulous.  I could have spent days in that garden alone.  We drove through the city, then Orchard Road and when we got to Chinatown, Theresa, Paul, Rick and I got off to have lunch, so we missed the tour of the Thian Hock Keng Temple.

After wandering down several streets and through a myriad of Chinese shops, we asked what was a good restaurant for dim sum which I was craving.  We were sent to Yum Chow and had 9 delicous dishes that were out of this world.  The girls at the table next to us were laughing at our trying to pick peanuts up with our chopsticks.  There was an American man with them from Kearney, Nebraska, who was an Anglican pastor in Singapore for 10 years, so we had a conversation with him.

We then, of course, had to go to Raffles Hotel, the home of the Singapore sling and got on the subway in China town and headed for Raffles City, thinking that must be where the Hotel was.  Well, it wasn't and a nice American gentleman sent us back the way we came, almost, and we found Raffles, the English colonial, red-tile-roofed and had a $30 Singapore sling!  It was not very good and had little alcohol in it.   I was tired by then so we took a taxi back to the ship around 5 pm but Thersa and Paul walked around the Marina.  We bought groceries in the shopping center at the Harbourfront (Vivo's was across the street), had a cheese sandwich and watched the cable cars, lit up like fireworks, cross over the harbor from Sentosa to downtown Singapore.

Dock time was 8:30 pm and we watched passengers board, 138 of them past dock time, including 2 professors and a couple of drunk students.  Apparently they were caught up in Immigration and won't be docked after all.  Several students were put off in Singapore but we don't know who.  A shower and bed!

Tuesday night before arrival in Singapore we had dinner with our 5 on board-kids and had pizza and ice cream cake with rocky road and vanilla ice cream,.  I couldn't believe how much cake (14") these kids can eat!  Pictured are Joan, Natalie, Kyle, Tom, Hannah, Brittany, Carla and Rick.

Friday, March 18, SAS announced that we would be going to Taiwan after Shanghai.  Poor Japan - we really wanted to go there but not now.  The radiation levels are increasing.

Earthquake/tsunami and itinerary

The world changes every day.  After the earthquake in Japan and the damage to the nuclear reactors, our itinerary has not changed.  However, it's going to be a day-to-day decision and we are on our way to Singapore, which wasn't affected by the tsunami, for one day on Wednesday, and then to Vietnam 2 days after that.  We have to refuel in Singapore.  Rumor Ranger (a column on board that challenges all the rumors floating around) says that we are not going to Australia!  However, it looks like the nuclear reactors in Japan have already melted down which doesn't sound like we'll be going to Japan.

Events continue on board ship regardless of the world tensions.  We received Al Jaszera (sp.) an Arab  news only TV station while we were in port in Chennai in order to follow the earthquake news.  It's the only time we have had access to news, except through our computers.  So, yesterday Neptune Day was celebrated, which is the initiation by King Neptune ( the Captain) of pollywogs (newcomers) who cross the equator.  Although we have crossed the equator twice now, it was postponed until yesterday.  Students, some faculty and LLLs, jumped in the pool after being covered in muck, kissed the fish, and some had their heads shaved.  I was amazed at how many girls contributed their locks.  They do look strange and are barely (no pun intended) recognizable.

Above photo is Captain Jeremy as Neptune and the Dean as his wife.  To right is Dean Dan Garvey, Executive Dean.
To the left, students line up to have their heads shaved.  Notice girl in middle.

Chennai, India

We arrived in a smoggy cloud of dust and dirt at 8 am.  Didn't watch the docking because they docked on port side and we are on starboard.  We are smack dab in the middle of old ships and aren't allowed to walk anywhere, but then who would want to.  There's only one dining room open on 5th deck; because of the dirt that would cover 6 and 7, they are closed.  There is plastic on the carpet at the disembarkation door.  Ought to give you an idea of an Indian industrial center.

We took a bus tour of the city and will send you photos later, because we are leaving tomorrow at 3:30 am for New Delhi and Agra and won't be back until midnight Wednesday.  Chennai used to be known as Madras, name of the fabric that was produced for centuries.  India has so many problems, other than the billion or so people who live here.  But more later.


Later....Chennai is India's 4th largest city with a population nudging 6-1/2 Million people.  Hot, fast, congested and noisy, it's the major transportation hub of the south.  Raj (English) architecture does exist, although it has not been preserved very well. Rechristened Chennai in 1997, the metropolis has boomed since the Indian economy opened up to foreign investment.  The flip side of this rapid economic growth is that Chennai's infrastructure has been stretched to breaking point: poverty, oppressive heat and pollution (a scary 5000 new cars hit  the roads every month) and the traffic is crazy:  cars, trucks, auto-rickshaws, taxis, bicycles, motorbikes vie for position in a two-lane street that suddenly becomes 5 lanes because the traffic makes it 5 lanes!  Drivers keep one hand on the horn to warn other drivers that they are there.  10 people can pack into and outside  the ubiquitous yellow and green taxis.

India is on Level 2 alert, therefore we have to present passports, ship ID, go though security on the dock upon leaving or returning, which means wand searches for women and pat-downs for men, as well as carry-ons.  Upon leaving the gate, a soldier enters the bus and checks passports of each person, which takes a long time with 30-45  people on a bus. Soldiers are everywhere in the cities and countryside

On the bus tour, we saw Fort St. George,  San Thome Cathedral and the ancient Kapaleeshwar Temple, a Hindu temple.  You must remove your shoes in order to enter any temple or church.  Women are warned to cover up shoulders, arms and legs, which probably bothered the female students as they are used to short shorts, spaghetti strap tops, etc.  The  "poverty" is amazing but the Indians don't see it that way.  60% of the population is Hindu, 25% Moslem, some Jains and Buddhists, Christians and Sikhs.  Most believe that materials things don't matter which means they are not poor but rich in their religious beliefs - Hinduism permeates every aspect of their lives, including the caste system, which is alive and well.

We returned in time for dinner and packing, and next morning were in the Union at 3:30 am, coffee and pastry (made on ship, delicious) and off to airpot at 4 am for flight to New Delhi on Kingfisher Airlines (there is also a beer called Kingfisher) which was very nice, smooth, full Indian breakfast, lovely, gentle Indian attendants who make our attendants seems rude and bossy.


NEW DELHI


I loved New Delhi.  We arrived at a new airport built for the Commonwealth Games 2 years ago.  The capital of India with 17 million people has 5- lane boulevards, landscaped beautifully, roundabouts everywhere, clean streets, lovely old English homes, new hotels, huge government buildings, military compounds everywhere and more of a European feel, although it is definitely India.  The traffic was 3 times as crazy as Channai and had more automobiles, although those darn taxis are everywhere.  And the honking of horns created a cacophony of sounds.  Our bus was new, Mercedes, and was the bus President Obama's entourage rode in when Obama was in New Delhi!

Delhi is home to 3 UNESCO World Heritage Sites:  Taj Mahal, Agra Fort and Fatehpur Sikri.  Our first trip was to Gandhi's memorial where he was cremated and an eternal flame burns for the Father of India.  It was very busy at 10 am.  Drove past India Gate, President's Home, Prime Minister, the Red Fort (which we visited next day),  toured an India Mosque, had a late lunch, drove through old Delhi which contained slums, which our guide told us didn't exist.  Drove back to restaurant to pick up box lunches which were to be eaten on the train to Agra at 6 pm.  The traffic to the train station was inpenetrable! 


What a train station.  We went up stairs to pass platforms, down stairs to next, etc., trying to find a place to park 40 people.  When we did, the students immediately ate their dinners: cold french fries, some kind of wrap (Hindus don't eat beef so we usually ate chicken), fruit, etc.  Our guide and SAS tour leader were frantically conversing on phones.  Then they told us the train wasn't expected for hours, but they had called our bus driver who was on his way back to the station to drive us to Agra.  So down through the station we went again, beggars following us, the students giving their food to the beggars, and we climbed back on the bus and left for Agra - same bus driver that had driven us around all day.

I'm glad we took the bus.  It took us 2 hours to drive out through the suburbs of New Delhi, but just watching the traffic, people and general confusion was an education.  It was a 6 hour drive to Agra and most of us slept - some.  The noise of the traffic and honking, plus watching the wedding places in all their garish, brightly lit glory kept us awake part of the time.  This is the time of year for weddings and these places are indescrible and we couldn't get photos because it was dark!  The music, floats, carraiges, people at 10 pm was incredible. 

We finally arrived at midnight at a beautiful 5-star (for India) resort after getting up at 2:45 am the previous day.   We slept well, up at  6 am for drive to Taj Mahal for morning view.  I didn't go as we were going back in the evening for sunset view.  Everyone came back at 9 am, we had breakfast, on bus to drive to Fatehpur Sikri, which is a petrified sandstone city built 400 years ago, by a wealthy emperor, named Akbar. It was abandoned for lack of water.

Driving through the countryside to get there was really interesting.  Fields of potatoes wheat, mustard, woemen collecting water buffalo dung for burning, water buffalo everywhere, the different modes of transportation, etc.  We returned to the hotel for lunch, checked out, and then went to see the Agra Fort. By then it was 5:00 pm and we went to see the Taj Mahal.  It is most beautiful from a distance beccause it is so majestic. It was built in 1600s by Mogul emperior for his wife who died in childbirth giving him his 14th child.  It is all that is written about.  A mosque sits to the left and an identical building to the right.  Of course we had our photo taken in front of the Taj.

After we were shooed out by military guards because there was a light show that evening, we drove to the same  restaurant for snacks, then headed for the railroad station for the express train to Delhi.  This time we only waited for 30 minutes, ran into another group from the ship (who were more exhausted than we were), served dinner on the train (which we didn't eat) and after 2 hours, were back in Delhi, boarded a bus for the airport and collapsed on the plane. They served a full dinner at 10:30 pm!  We did not eat.  More curry!!!  We arrived in Chennai at midnight, boarded another bus, arrived at the port about 12:30 am, security boarded bus and checked every passenger on  the manifest and finally got to ship, went through more security, fled to our cabin, showered and fell into bed!!

An unexpected detour

What a crazy morning.  Yesterday the Captain came on the intercom at 8:30 am and announced that we would be stopping at  Diego Garcia, an island in the Indian Ocean owned by Britain but leased to the US as a highly classified radar/satellite base, we think.  We were going to drop off three passengers who needed urgent medical care, who were then to be evacuated by the military to Singapore from Diego Garcia!   Many passengers had mused the night before that we were doing between 25-28 knots and must have been in a hurry.  Well, as it turned out, we were.

As our ship approached the islands, two tugboats escorted by two Zodiacs carrying Navy Seals armed to the gills, raced toward the ship to let off a pilot to take us into the lagoon, and to board Seals who were supposed to "sweep" the ship!  Now if you don't think that sounds ominous! Six Seals, a German shepherd bomb-detecting dog and the pilot boarded the ship.  Then we saw a submarine off our bow, probably 1/4 mile away!  In the meantime, the ship's crew assembled the dock on which the group boarded.  Dean Dan later told us that the military weren't sure if we had been captured by pirates - hence the sweep to secure the ship.  Actually they had been following us for days by radar wanting to see what ship was travelling so fast.

                                                                                           

Meanwhile, the two Zodiacs with Seals with rifles continued to race back and forth, another boat with only a machine gunner  patroled, and a "hospital" ship joined the parade.  After they swept the ship, (2 were on the flying bridge with the captain) the hospital ship backed up to the dock and 3 passengers were offloaded, one on a stretcher.  We understand the young girl has a blood disorder, and Mimosa, a student who was severly burned as a child, had infections which our medical staff couldn't adequately treat. The third was a male crew person. 

 All of the Navy Seals who had been on board and the pilot disembarked.  Everyone on board the ship cheered and clapped and the Seals either saluted or waved.  It was quite an emotional scene.  All of this took about 2 hours.

When the patients were being loaded, Randi, one of the nurses handed the Seals something white, which we assumed belonged to one of the patients.  About 5 minutes later, one of them in a Zodiac, stood up and waved a "Semester at Sea" T-shirt.  Everyone on board cheered.   Here we are in the middle of the Indian Ocean waving to American boys stationed at a secluded base, and seeing American flags waving, and they came to our rescue.  When the Seals first arrived, they were serious and solemn but when they saw all of the young students on board, I think they probably felt as much emotion as we did. Too bad all of the girls weren't in their bikinis!  Good for the American soul to be reminded that our military is there to serve when needed and not always on a battlefield.

I speculated as to what it must have taken to get help from this base.  The Captain, our Executive Dean, SAS and ISE in Virginia, the military in Washington or wherever, all had to have been involved.  Captain Jeremy is English which probably helped as well, since there is a British presence on the island (Union Jacks flying on boats as well).  And I thought the 6-day trip to India would be boring!

P.S.  BTW, the Captain told us not to take pictures of the base, but I assumed that didn't mean we couldn't take photos of the rescue.  Plus I told Dean Dan that I was going to publish on the blog and he said it was all right.


P.P.S.  We are now 10 1/2 hours ahead of the East Coast!  How does that happen?  We had to move our clocks ahead 1/2 hour last night.