Traveling Cows

Phuket (as Mrs. Phipps pointed out to us, the ‘Ph’ is pronounced as a ‘p’ not an ‘f’) was our one stop in Thailand. It is an island off the west coast of Thailand.. It’s western coast was heavily damaged by the tsunami a few years ago. We did not see the west coast but hear that most of the physical damage has been repaired. We docked on the southeastern coast at the Port of Phuket. As the ships navigator noted, since the Rotterdam is 780 feet long we needed special permission to dock at the pier since the maximum allowed length is normally 690 feet. (We received similar exemptions at several other ports.)

Our excursion took us first to the southern tip of the island, Sunset View Point, where we had a panoramic view over the Adman Sea and the islands off the southern coast. There is a small elephant shrine on top of the hill near the light house. As thanks for good fortune, people bring elephant carvings at place them in the shrine. Presumably, the larger the fortune, the larger the elephant.

Elephant Shrine

We then went to Wat Chalong, the islands most famous temple. There are speakers relaying the monks chanting on the general grounds where there are three or four temples.

A Temple at Wat Chalong

A drive through Phuket Town, the main “city” on the island, was to show off the Portuguese influenced architecture—a legacy of the tin baron era. The most interesting stop was at the Phuket Orchid Garden and Thai Village. We didn’t have time to see the orchids, but we did see a cultural show that highlighted costume, dance, and customs of the four main regions of Thailand.

We thoroughly enjoyed our brief time in Singapore. I (Hanson) was wondering a bit before we got there since I’d heard various stories about their strict enforcement of the bans on chewing gum and jaywalking as well as the cleanliness and safety of the island city-state. By-and-large the democratically elected government seems pretty progressive and quite intelligent about creating and maintaining a society that balances the needs of it’s 4.6 million people in about 38 square miles. Actually there are 64 islands, but Singapore is by far and away the largest.

The morning excursion, “Panoramic Singapore,” was not much more than a bus ride around town with commentary. We drove through the business district, and the major ethnic neighborhoods: Little India, the Arab Quarter, and Old Chinatown. We also drove up the high-end shopping street, Orchard Road and around the famous Raffles Hotel.

Mosque in the Arab Quarter

Building in Old Chinatown

Raffles Hotel in the Rain

John’s comment was that when he was last in Singapore (25 years ago) he saw people doing Tai Chi on the beach front across from the hotel. Today you can’t even see the water from the hotel so much land reclamation and building has occurred.

The best part of the day came after lunch when we met Gretchen Liu, a cousin of Ardyce Riggs a woman that I had worked with for years. Gretchen is married to a native of Singapore, has lived in the country for over 30 years, and has written a book about the country’s history and about her work on the restoration of the Raffles Hotel. After answering our questions about the country, Gretchen took us to a delightful small museum about the Peranakans, decedents of Chinese traders who married Malay wives as early as the 17^th century. They eventually moved into Singapore, which had been founded by the British in 1819. The Peranakans were educated, wealthy, powerful, and lead lavish lives—their weddings lasted for 12 days! They incorporated Malay, Portuguese, Dutch, and British culture into their own.

A Peranakan Family

Also at the museum was a temporary exhibit called “Serenity in Stone.” In 1996 construction workers in Qingzhou, China, midway between Shanghai and Beijing, uncovered a pit filled with over 400 stone Buddhist sculptures. They were apparently made mainly during the 6^th century, ritually buried in the 12^th for an unknown reason, and completely forgotten. Because they were buried, they are not weathered: the carved details are still sharp and many retain traces of the gilt and paint. They are gorgeous! Figures of Buddha and bodhisattvas, from a few inches to five to six feet tall. Unfortunately no photographs were allowed.

The port where we docked has long history but today is an oil port. There is a Halliburton facility just off the pier where we docked. Other than that, there is not much to recommend it.

We took an excursion into Kuantan, a city about an hour south of Kemaman. The area is in the middle of Malaysia’s east coast. First stop was the Tanjung Api fishing jetty.

Fishing Jetty

We saw a small parking lot with a fish market on one side and a collection of small shops and restaurants on the other and a few beat up old fishing boats at the end.

Fish Market

Janice asked the tour guide about where to find white pepper and a couple other of the spices she had been hearing about from the chefs and guest chefs on the ship. The guide told her to wait at the bus while he went off and came back with some very small bags of white pepper, cloves, and star anise, which he gave her. Since all the writing on the packets is in Malay, we would not have been able to identify it even if we had found it. We had to contend with a light rain shower, but it didn’t interfere with what sightseeing as available.

We then drove through Kuantan itself and the guide pointed out a few buildings. We then headed to the most popular tourist beach in the area, Teluk Cempedak.

John by the Teluk Cempedak Beach

It is a nice beach, but the guide told me that the surrounding market is expensive especially compared to the beach to the south that the locals use. (In addition, the Holland America excursion book says, “Swimming is not recommended at Teluk Cempedak beach. Undercurrents are strong and dangerous for swimmers.”) There was another brief shower, but we explored the area after that. There was a Hyatt resort on the beach but we headed the other way toward a small wooden walkway along one end of the beach were there were large rocks and breaking waves. As we approached a bridge at the first part of the walkway, a troop of monkeys came out of the trees and across the bridge. They weren’t particularly interested in the humans, although we had been told of monkey thieves who would take what ever was loose.

Monkeys

After a brief stay, we went back to the ship. On the way, the skies opened and it poured. Between the bus and the ship, everyone got soaked. The driving rain continued until departure, so we weren’t able to get out and investigate the stalls along the pier. Needless to say, we didn’t take the shuttle into the shopping area either.

Unfortunately, our brief stay in Malaysia didn’t show us anything to recommend it, although I’m sure there are delightful and informative things to see and do in the country. We sometimes wonder why a particular port was chosen, but some of it has to do with appealing to all the repeat world voyagers. I don’t remember if I’ve mentioned that we’ve met people on their fifth, tenth, even fifteenth world cruises.

What a delightful resort town! The various descriptions I’d heard hadn’t really prepared me for Nha Trang. I was expecting not much more than a beach, some low-rise hotels, a few old temples, hot humid weather, and a plenty of pickpockets. There is a beautiful, 10-meter long beach, several high-rise hotels and more on the way—all across the street from the beach—several delightful temples, hot humid weather, a plenty of very pushy street vendors, and some pretty good shopping (a sun hat or beer for a buck US, silk shirts for $US 5 or 10).

First stop on our excursion was the Po Nagar Cham Towers built in the 7^th through 12^th centuries by the Cham civilization before they were pushed further south by the arrival of the Vietnamese. Now both Chinese and Vietnamese Buddhists worship there.

One of the Remaining Po Nagar Cham Towers

Dancing at the Po Nagar Cham Towers

Second stop was the Long Son Pogoda founded in the early 19^th century and home to a few remaining monks. 150 steps above is a 42 meter tall white seated Buddha built in 1963 to honor self-immolated monks. The base on which the Buddha sits is a temple and around the outside are images of a few of the monks being honored. The frames around the portraits are in the shape of flames.

The White Buddha

The third stop was the obligatory merchant/factory, this time an embroidery factory and store. The work was very good but not as fine as what we saw in Shanghai.

Hand Embroidery Factory Workers

The final stop was at a restaurant on the beach where they served coconut milk in the nut. We preferred the Saigon beer (1$US). Then Janice and I went for a walk on the beach and to get our toes wet in the South China Sea. The sand is coarse and the beach steep. The waves were so unpredictable that we got more wet than we had intended!

In the South China Sea

Beach Scene

Like most ports, there was a pier-side market. After lunch we explored it and returned with a couple cans of local beers and a folding hat for Janice. Also like most ports there was a shuttle bus into town. Because we sailed at 5pm, however we did not use it.