Day 62 of 111. Phu My, Vietnam

Ron left the ship for a three-day overland excursion to visit Angkor Wat in Cambodia. The first day, however, was spent in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). Ron visited the Independence Hall (formerly the Presidential Palace). The tanks were the first to enter its grounds in April 1975 effectively ending the Vietnamese War. Tank 843 is a Russian tank; Tank 390 is Chinese. There was also a visit to the History Museum.

Day 61 of 111. Nha Trang, Vietnam

Nha Trang is a town with many beautiful beaches. We saw visitors from everywhere in their beach attire heading to the sun and water. We first visited an embroidery shop. On many of these excursions, we get dropped off at a jade factory or jewelry mart, but the embroidery in this shop was exquisite. We saw embroidered pictures in China as well. This shop has ladies working on pieces and you are given a quick introduction to the craft. People were picking up nice smaller pictures for between $100-$150. Of course Ron’s favorite picture cost over $1800!

Next, we went to the Long Son Pagoda, a Buddhist temple with mosaic dragons decorating the entry and roof. Ron climbed the 152 steps to visit the huge white Buddah sitting in a lotus flower. I stayed below and poked around the temple (take your shoes off) and saw the beautiful statues. In 1963, two Buddhist monks set themselves on fire to protest the Vietnam War. There are shrines to them as well as information about them on the bottom of the white Buddah.

The third stop was the Po Nagar Cham Towers. The ancient Cham people built these towers between the 7th and 12th centuries. This is a Hindu temple. Ron saw some dancers behind the towers.

Our last stop was very exciting for me, the Dam Market which is a giant two-story market complex that can accommodate 6,000 shoppers. We wandered through the small stalls and bought a couple of t-shirts, a belt, and a thumb drive. We

Day 60 of 111. En route to Nha Trang, Vietnam

We have passed the halfway mark on this trip. This is the second of two Sea Days and I’ve completed another watercolor project, a Chinese Junk, I believe. Ron is gearing up for another overland trip to visit Angkor Wat in Cambodia. He is very excited, but we haven’t quite recovered from our four day trip around China. We are moving closer to the equator and the weather has changed from cold and snow to hot and humid. We get to break out the Hawaiian shirts again!

Day 58 of 111. Po Lin Monastery, Lantau Island, Hong Kong, China

Lantau Island has been developing. It has the new Hong Kong International Airport that is built completely on reclaimed land, that is, where there was once water, a man made island is the base of the airport. Hong Kong Disneyland is also located on Lantau Island, but we did not see it. This Buddhist monastery was established by three Chinese monks who came to Hong Kong looking for the perfect place for meditation. The Fen Shui of this site was perfect because of the mountains on three sides and the water below. This monastery and temple is actually newly built and beautiful to see. There is a Buddha on the hill that is the largest sitting bronze Buddha in Asia. There are 268 steps to climb to get to the Buddha. We had to rest from time to time on the way up, but we made it. Oddly enough, cows are allowed to roam freely on Lantau Island. They were once used for farming, but no longer, so they are wild and considered “retired”. There is, of course, a shopping area near the monastery. We didn’t find anything to buy, but there were several nice photo opportunities, such as the large lucky cat!

For over 150 years, Hong Kong belonged to the British. In 1997, it was given back to China. China has said that Hong Kong will not be changed by China for 50 years. People in Hong Kong have many more freedoms than people in Mainland China (Facebook is available, for example). The Hong Kong citizens are speculating what will happen at the end of the fifty years. The official flower of Hong Kong is the Bauhinia, a five pedaled bright pink flower (also pale pink and white varieties are found) and shows up as decorations and also on the Hong Kong flag.

Day 58 of 111. Tai O Fishing Village, Lantau Island, Hong Kong, China

Lantau Island is the largest island of Hong Kong. It used to consist of a lot of farms and fishing villages, but many move to the cities and fish and produce are imported in a larger percentage than before. This is a village that stays with the old ways. The houses are up on stilts. This village is also called the Asian Venice. There is a lot of fish caught that are dried. I took a picture of dried shark fins used for shark fin soup. Our guide says that dried fish can last up to 10 years! Even this small village has a temple (the Kwan Tai Temple). Ron went inside and there was no Buddha, so it was probably a Taoist Temple. We watched one of the fishing boats that came in… the prawns were very large. Besides the dried fish, there were buckets with live fish where air was blown into the tubs like an aquarium. You could choose the fish and take it to the restaurant next door and have it prepared for you. Really fresh fish!