Diane

We had rain today, luckily it was during the bus rides and transit times and not when we were off the bus seeing the sights. The other interesting item of note was that we docked in a military installation and were informed- strictly no photography until we were off the base. They were doing training exercises so we also saw submarines in the bay.

It was my first time seeing the beautiful green rice fields and with the mountains and rain clouds in the background, it was wonderful.

We saw more temples, of course, as well as a local market and local home during today’s excursion.

Our excursion was titled “Mekong River Delta” but really it was a boat ride across the river to a village on an island, followed by a 10 minute ride in a sampan, lunch and a boat ride back across the river. Jennifer and I were expecting a leisurely cruise among the river and delta greenery to celebrate her birthday.

It wasn’t what we expected but still a fun experience. Before we got to the river we stopped at a couple of temples. One had a lady Buddha, a reclining Buddha and a laughing Buddha.

Jennifer and I got up early to go back to Angkor Wat to see the sunrise. It was pretty fun and it wasn’t nearly as hot but we didn’t see the sunrise because the sun was covered by clouds. We did really like the TukTuk ride to the temple as there were hardly anyone on the roads, it was cool, the birds were calling and it was calm. It wasn’t part of the tour and we did it independently

On the way back on our TukTuk ride it was much busier and when we passed a group of bicyclists we’re pretty sure one of them dropped off the paved road onto the dirt. No one stopped.

Right after we returned from our sunrise trip to Angkor Wat, we left for the airport to fly to Siagon, Vietnam.

We were super excited when we returned to the ship and discovered we were in time for a Vietnamese Cultural Show.

Today was a long, hot yet amazing day. We got to visit Angkor Wat. The most amazing thing to me was that this temple is still being used for worship. It has been in continuous use for over 1000 years. People come from all over the country to worship. They were getting ready for the 2025 Cambodian New Year happening on April 14th and were setting up small buildings and stages to get ready. It’s another temple that has changed religions between Hindu and Buddhism.

We had our picture taken so that our ticket had a picture of the ticket holder- apparently they used to have folks that would trade tickets so they could get in without paying!

We visited Banteay Srei temple with it’s intricate carving. It’s known as the Women’s Citadel because they believe that the women did the carving as they had the best carving skills.

Then a visit to Angkor Wat, lunch and a visit to the Angkor Thom complex.

Our guide said we saw in one day what most folks take two or three days to see.

After we arrived at Sihanoukville, Cambodia we left for our Angkor Wat overland tour.

• Day 1(March 28)
  • Fly to Siem Reap, Cambodia
  • Dinner and Traditional dance show
  • Overnight FCC Angkor by Avani Hotel
• Day 2(March 29)
  • Visit Banteav Srei, Angkor Wat
  • Lunch
  • Visit Angkor Thom, Ta Prohm Temple
  • Overnight FCC Angkor by Avani
• Day 3(March 30)
  • Sunrise visit, on our own, to Angkor Wat
  • Fly to Siagon, Vietnam and board ship

Between all the travel and logistics, we didn’t check into our hotel until about 3:30pm and then at 7pm we had dinner and a show. I had time for a massage before dinner.

More temples today- Wat Phra Si Sanphet (royal temple of Ayutthaya), Wat Mahathat and the Imperial palace. We also had a delicious lunch at a Michelin star restaurant(Krungsrj river Hotel) during the excursion.

I brought hours and hours of projects to keep me from being bored in my down time. That was a mistake as I have very little down time, I’m not bored and I”m just going to take them back home unfinished. This blog entry is quite late as I’ve enjoyed my many excursions. For the next few blog entries I”m going to post a few pictures and very little words so I can catch up. Later I’ll go back and add more words

Highlights of Bangkok excursion today- Golden Buddha, the Grand Palace with the emerald Buddha, and a boat ride on the canal. You are not allowed to take photos inside where the emerald Buddha is.

Today I was scheduled to go on a highlights tour of Ko Samui but instead I just stayed on the ship for most of the day. I was worried I was getting a cold/flu but after lots of rest and fluids I was fine.

In the afternoon, I took a tender to Ko Samui, took a very short walk around town and then took the tender back to the ship (after purchasing a t-shirt).

Today we’re at sea from Singapore to Ko Samui, Thailand

Another day without an official excursion. I took the Mass Rapid Transit(MRT) trains to Gardens by the Bay park to visit the Kingfisher wetlands again and to see more of the park.

While in the MRT station, I took out my phone and took a picture of the route map and almost immediately the loud speaker came on and said, to paraphrase, “no photography allowed and you could go to jail”. I don’t think it was a coincident that the announcement was made just after I took the photo as there are CCTVs all over the place.

The MRT was amazing- it was fast, clean and easy to use. The signs were easy to follow and there were multiple levels underground to support all the lines going in different directions. I just used my Visa card to tap in and out to pay the fare- I didn’t have to get a ticket or special travel card or anything.

The Kingfisher wetlands opens to the public at 5AM and does not require a ticket. I didn’t get there that early but definitely earlier than 9AM when the rest of the park opens. Still didn’t see any kingfishers that weren’t sculptures but I did see a large monitor lizard swimming in the pond.

It had rained earlier in the day and since it was early in the morning it was very pleasant, not too hot and not crowded.

After the Kingfisher wetlands I went on the Supertree skyway which is an aerial walkway 60+ feet above the ground which winds between the tops of two Supertrees. There were very few people on the walkway so I could take my time- although I didn’t because it was a bit scary. The entrance sign asks folks to limit their time on the skyway to 15 minutes.

After the skyway, I went to the Supertree Observatory. It’s a viewing platform on one of the tallest Supertrees. I had a delicious breakfast with a view at the small coffee shop in the Observatory. The views of the bay and Singapore were amazing. I enjoyed the time on at the Observatory and the outside deck.

I wasn’t particularly hot but wanted to cool down a bit so rode the Big Bus about 30 minutes to the Raffles hotel and went to their famous long bar and ordered the custom drink they created in 1915: the Singapore Sling. It contains gin, curaçao, lime juice, pineapple juice, and Bénédictine. It was so delicious I had a second one! The drinks were very expensive but worth it. When I left there was a line out the door of folks waiting to get inside.

From Raffles hotel I took the Big Bus back to Gardens by the Bay to visit their cloud forest exhibit. It’s a large glass enclosed area that has a 100+ foot indoor waterfall and plants native to cloud forest habitats. It was kinda odd because there were no bugs or animals- just plants. It’s like a giant terrarium. I didn’t spend too much time there because there were so many people and it was crowded.

Since the ticket to the cloud forest included the flower dome, I visited it too. I spent even less time there because of all the people. It’s another giant terrarium but filled with dessert adapted plants and a special exhibit. This season’s special exhibit included lots of cherry blossom trees. Many folks were doing photo shots of themselves with the cherry blossoms.

Singapore is a tidy, clean and safe city where everyone follows the rules and CCTVs are everywhere.