Travel

We landed in Da Nang on time and at a remote cargo loading dock. Our excursions from here were mostly all-day events touring the city of Hue, the Imperial City of the Nguyen Emperors. The city is about an hour and a quarter drive along Highway One. Along the way we passed by the countryside and saw the rice paddies and animals such as water buffalo that make up the economic system of the farmers here.

[Read more…] about Hue

An early morning for an early excursion in a “junk” (boat) around Halong Bay. The day turned out to be mildly hot (about 83F when we got back about noon) and humid. The sun was shining but there was a layer of haze in the air so for some of my photos I’m going to have to spend some time editing the picture to remove as much haze as I can (just sliding the dehaze slider doesn’t always work).

[Read more…] about Cai Lan (Halong Bay)

A very long day today; two excursions at five hours each with only about 1.5 hours between them to get a quick snack.

We got a break on the temperature due to overcast for most of the day but that brought problems of its own as there was also some fog due to humidity in the air.

[Read more…] about Hong Kong

About 9am we backed into the dock at Keelung, the port city for Taipei, Taiwan, today’s port of call. And, I do mean backed. From just outside the breakwater the ship backed the entire way into the harbor and to the dock. While a tug was watching, there was no contact; the ship just used thrusters to make its way into port — backward. Amazing to watch.

[Read more…] about Taipei

If you were on Okinawa during World War II I can guarantee that it looks quite different today!

[Read more…] about Okinawa

Immigration and excursion management went better today but we still left about an hour late. No matter as we got everything in.

Today was largely a ride around bus tour with a couple of stops. The city is an interesting contrast to Beijing and other Chinese cities in that many of the downtown buildings are designed by architects who wanted to show off instead of just being functional or traditional. But, more about that later, for now…

[Read more…] about Shanghai