Well what a place, its fantastic, high buildings sheik shops and loads of sight seeing to do. We went up on the tram to fantastic views over the city and had a great lunch with that same view right next to us, a very special lunch indeed. We had a good look round the night markets in Temple Street last night, that was fun and got some real bargains, oh how nice it would be to do the same in the UK. Today we have been over to Stanley market, it was OK nothing fantastic and I’m not sure it was that worth going over, but at least we can say we have been. Anyway not got long, I’m in a shopping centre on some free wifi with lots of other people but attached are a couple of images that should show how in the middle of things the ship is and how good the light display was, but more of that and the locations I’ve missed on the next update. 
Goooood Morrrrnniiing Vietnammmmm as the film goes and for us it really was good morning Vietnam. It was an early start for what was going to be a fairly long day. Saigon is a few hours from the port so there was a fair journey ahead of us to get into the centre but then it was great fun watching all the sights from the coach and seeing the chaotic traffic. The journey wasn’t as long as it was meant to be as the port we went to was further up the river, in fact we were the first passenger ship to ever dock there, they had a full ceremony on our arrival and flags and balloons up, but I have no idea what it was called, but it did feel like going up the Nile to get to it.
The journey was eventful, we hit something at a highway toll booth and then someone gave us a nudge. It was all quite amusing to be honest and did make us chuckle; I see why they have a maximum speed that’s so low for large coaches now but it often gets dicey and a horn isn’t use as a warning all the time to smaller vehicles.
In the city we went to a few different locations saw a temple and museum and the water puppets show and then had a great lunch in a 5* hotel, now that was very fancy. Now what were the roads like in the centre then?… manic and oh so funny, its bikes, bikes and then more bikes even crossing the road is interesting its more like playing frogger but a little less fun but they don’t hit you (they get very close) you just have to keep walking slow and steady.
I managed to get a few pictures of some bikes carrying some really big loads and or even entire families. Oh and they don’t actually call them bikes they are known as Honda’s regardless of model in the same way we call a vacuum a Hoover I guess.
We went to the reunification hall an interesting palace famous for the pictures of the tank crashing through the front gates to end the American ‘involvement’ in Vietnam, the building still had the rooms where the war was being controlled by the Americans in the basement.
Saigon looked like a city that is slowly rebuilding itself after the wars, certainly not as well developed as Bangkok and with roads that aren’t a patch on it either. It doesn’t quite have the same charm either but its still a very interesting place to visit and tour around, I think I will get some Vietnam films out when I get back to see if I can recognise anything and understand a bit more about the country.
I’m writing this after a great bottle of wine a few days after visiting this interesting port. Why is it interesting? Well as you might know already Cambodia isn’t the richest and developed countries in the world and today we got to see that first hand. We hadn’t booked any tours as it was either a 4hr drive to Phnom Pen or a trip around the town for a fair bit of money that we didn’t think was worth it.
So off the boat we went towards the gates of this small port and we weren’t ready for what met us. Before we had even got to the gates we had been ask if we wanted to go into the port on the back of a motorbike, one maybe two and someone riding it, erm no. So we got to the gates to the port to see 30 or 40 people vying for our attention to take us into the town. We were offered a ride in a car, on a bike or more times than we could care to mention heard the sound tuk tuk, tuk tuk. Now I don’t think we were prepared for this as we though we could just walk into the town but it appeared not. So what do we do?- well we found a decent bloke who spoke great English and stepped aboard his tuk tuk for the journey into the town after a good bit of bartering. It was a bit nervy as this is no UK road network that we are travelling on but it was good fun and interesting to say the least. But when we got into the town that’s when the real fun started… the market. (Sorry will have to regain my thoughts, just came back from winning the Wii Sports Tournament in the Viking crown lounge and indulged in a bit of dancing in the Centrum on the way back…) now where was I… Ahh yes the market, well lets picture the scene- there are loads of people milling about going about their day, there is rubbish on the streets and the place looks in a fairly bad state of repair to say the very least. We stepped into the market to find a fairly pungent smell, ah and then there was the beggar with one leg, the first of three we saw. On getting towards the back of the market that sold all sorts, it was almost a flee market, was the fish and oh my god did it stink. Old fish, alive fish dried out and in temperatures close to 35degrees you can imagine the smell. Well my better half had had enough so we hot footed it back to our tuk tuk…
We decided not to stay around in the town as there really wasn’t anything to buy or to see and we didn’t feel too safe either, it really did feel like a third world country. We got our driver to take us down to the beach for a quick look round and then to take the scenic route back to the boat. An hour and a half later we were back safe and sound and only $20 lighter (including a $5 tip for getting us back in one piece) rather than $90 if we had taken the tour to do pretty much the same thing but far less fun. Don’t take this as a bad day it wasn’t, it was a big reason as to why we came to Asia to see other countries and see how other people live. We all complain about the UK and what it has and hasn’t got but oh my should we appreciate that we have got SOOOOOOOO much more than we do, the UK is a fantastic place to live even if it does get a bit cold from time to time. Mind you I think they have the happiness / work life balance thing sorted maybe we can work on that, 4 day week anyone???
We arrive to look out of the cabin onto a container port, not the best view but the weather is hot already and its 9am in the morning. Today we are off on a tour into Bangkok called the Venice of the East. We need to be a little careful after getting a little bit too much sun yesterday but nothing drastic. Being fairly close to the equator there is a new found respect for the sun for many on-board. At breakfast in the Windjammer we see plenty of other red faces and some much worse, oops.
Off onto the air-conditioned coach for the journey into the heart of the city, it doesn’t actually take that long the new expressways are doing a great job at cutting down traffic on the outskirts of the city and it takes less time than expected to get to the river port. A quick comfort break and we get onto the boat.
We jet off at a fair rate up the river taking in the sights and sounds of Bangkok, the journey in highlighted how poor some elements of the country and city are but it has a charm that you can’t help fall in love with. The guide on the coach Kawe was infections in here passion for her country which made the whole day that little bit more special. We got to learn so much about every place that we went to you got a better view of things than if we had toured on our own.
We got to see some of the small canals that people lived on and the big Royal Barges that look good but only see the light of day every five years as part of a big celebration.
We then went onto the Temple of Dawn (Wat Arun) a very impressive and steep structure. At first its not too bad but then it goes even steeper before it gets almost vertical to get to top very top. Its pretty warm and the sweat flowing, nice I know, it was good that they gave us more water as part of the trip a nice touch.
We then went to the Fish Restaurant for a really nice buffet lunch along side the river and get some more drinks to keep us hydrated. Back onto the coach to the Grand Palace and oh my is it Grand.
On entering the complex you can look in every direction and see stunning architecture and more opportunities for pictures. It was a truly memorable day for these couple of hours along. Have a look at the gallery to see some of the pictures it certainly something that both of use will remember for a very long time.
We then took a route across the city where we got to see the almost gridlocked traffic at first hand, a quick stop off at a gem factory and then back to the boat for about 8.30pm. It was a long but very memorable day, it you are coming on this cruise I’d highly recommend this tour and seeing these sites if you are ever in Bangkok. I’m sure we only grazed the surface of the city but it was a good sample of what it had to offer.
I’m here righting this on the cabin balcony in Cambodia after a shall we say interesting trip into the town. More of that later I really should get it as its swelteringly hot in the port it feels close to 40degrees even in the shade and the laptop is struggling to keep itself cool.
My I needed that sleep and a lazy start to the day. The ship was rocking a bit last night but this was because we had to cover almost 1000miles in a day at almost maximum speed for the ship, 24knots and the Captain later admitted he didn’t put the stabilisers out due to the need to make sure we got to Laemchabang (Thailand) on time. It wasn’t bad and certainly wasn’t enough to make anyone queasy but it did make things a little more interesting for the evening, though it did do a great job to rock me to sleep last night.
I walked out of the cabin onto the balcony this morning and its really warm and humid and there is no land in sight, no idea what the temperature is but it’s got to be in the 30’s. Back into the Air-conditioned cabin and the realisation that this heat is going to get a bit of getting used to but it’s a far cry from the cold weather that we have left in the UK.
We arrived at the Singapore cruise terminal after a short coach journey, on which we heard a rather strange conversation. The people on the coach that we were sat in front of didn’t have ANY visas for China and might not be allowed to get on the ship. Now to me that’s madness as it’s very clear that you need one if not exactly which one you need. It later turns out that there are actually 83 passengers that are in a similar position…. My view? What a bunch of muppets, don’t blame anyone but yourselves but more on this later.
Anyway on to the terminal, yet again we got in and were taken to the check in desk and everything went very smoothly and quickly, this was a far quicker and more organised process than it was in Barcelona before we got on the Navigator. Everything was in order, we had the extra passport photos that you need and the photocopies of our passports needed to get some of the other visas on-board for Cambodia and Vietnam.
Onto the ship we step and get to the cabin, the holiday can officially start, the sun is shining its about 32degrees and the stresses and strains of life are ebbing away with every step further onto the ship. We get to the cabin to find that it’s larger than the cabin on the Navigator and even the loo is better and bigger but I won’t go into that here. J Overall the cabin is pretty much the same in all other respects and after 24hrs of travelling I can’t wait to get to bed this evening to get some sleep. We are higher than before and in a privileged position on the Legend as there are only two decks of outside cabins and not the six or so on the Navigator.
A quick tour of the ship and one thing is very clear, whilst it’s smaller and more compact in areas its certainly not showing its age and in some ways is better than the Navigator, its most certainly not a second class ship, its got loads of light everywhere and it feels really open and airy. I will talk about the ship later but if you have a trip booked on this ship you have nothing to worry about its great and you are going to really enjoy yourself.
No we didn’t choose the hotel we are stayed at in Singapore but oh my was it good. When we arrived we got a drink straight off the coach and we all got rooms within a few minutes, very efficient and excellent service.
We got a room on the 10th floor of the hotel, we could have gone much higher but this was enough for us. The room was great, it had a big 40” Sony TV and hifi and all the mod cons. The view was great and the bathroom rather large, if this is an indication of how the holiday is going to continue we can’t wait to get on the ship.
Unfortunately due to the delays we didn’t get much time to tour round Singapore which was a shame but what we saw of it was very clean and impressive. Even at 11 o’clock at night it was warm about 25degrees and you didn’t need more than a t-shirt it was also fairly humid.
We couldn’t come all this way without going to get a Singapore Sling in Raffles. It was very nice but damn expensive at $54 Singapore Dollars so not much change from £30 for the two drinks, still you get to eat peanuts and throw them on the floor so everything has an upside.
Wow its a long way and I’m just too damn big to fit in a plane. It all went a bit wrong in Dubai, for the first time in years it was struck by very bad fog.
So that delayed the flight out to get to Manchester and then delayed the flight out to Singapore. All in all it took 25hrs of travel to get to Singapore with all of the delays and a nice little stop in Colombo, that looked nice with all the palm trees lining the runway, oh and I had about one and a half hours sleep. ZZZZZzzz boy was I tired on arrival.
As for Emirates, the food was good and plentiful I will put a menu up it reads more like a restaurant menu than anything you normally get on a plane, BA it is not its much better.
The in flight entertainment was brilliant, I managed to squeeze in Wall-E, Kung Fu Panda, two episodes of Top Gear some two player tic tac toe and Tetris and more besides, you are never bored if you are awake thats for sure.
I’m writing this in the Lobby of the Conrad Centinnel but I will talk about that more later, its a fantastic hotel and the room was huge with a nice little… 40″ Sony LCD TV to get you buy and great views of the city.
Off to get on the boat soon for the full chillout to begin. A quick check on the weather and its a toasty 31degs in Singapore. Time for the holiday to begin in earnest.
Taken some great shots but not got the time to get them up yet. But check back soon subject to wife approval of wifi.
Images below are from the window of the hotel and of the room, very nice indeed.
I guess on any holiday it has to be expected and this one is no exception. But then Dubai is a very nice airport to be delayed in and it has a reallyyyyy good duty free but I’m stopping myself from stacking up on gadgets.
Its meant to be 25degs outside but we are stuck in an air-conditioned bubble so can’t enjoy the high temperatures of the far east just yet.
I’m going to use this site to update everyone on our holiday if I get chance, if I’m luck I will update the site with images and stories of the holiday so far. How often this will be will be down to good old internet access and a happy wife. Fingers crossed that I can get hold of both. Check back for updates or add the RSS feed to keep updated.