Category Archives: Travel

Around The Ship

Family, Travel

This one will be a bit long, but mostly all pictures and a few videos. Also, rather than post a bunch of blogs we saved everything until the end.

Thank you for joining us on this holiday journey. Mathieu – Congratulations on your upcoming graduation from UND. While we have begged you to join us on future trips we know you want us to spend less money on you. We will respect your wishes (he actually never said that but this is the cut the apron strings trip – Mathieu will always be our favorite Sherpa)!

Celebrity Solstice

Our Stateroom

Yes. Those are the flowers Jonathan bought in Thailand.

Decorated for Christmas

Glass Blowing

Around the Ship

Re-Decorated for New Years Eve

New Years Eve in Ha Long Bay, Vietnam

Park West Art

Helipad Send Off

Just Some of Us

Thank you for joining us!

Nha Trang, Vietnam

Family, Travel,

Today was a quick day for us. No tours, just a hop off of the boat, via a tender, a little shopping and then back. It ended up being a good plan given this was really the only hot day of the trip.

Tender to port.

Waikiki of Vietnam

Nha Trang is mostly a vacation destination and is often referred to as the Honolulu of Vietnam. With massive hotels and beaches it is no surprise people flock here during the summer. For us, it was a quiet time to visit.

Local market.
Silks were the theme of the day.

Do you want to be a millionaire?

What you see below is approximately 5 millions Vietnamese Dong (the local currency).

In US dollars this is about $200.

Ho Chi Minh (aka Saigon), Vietnam

Travel, ,

Today was a long day as we were in a bus for over 4 hours going to and from Ho Chi Minh City. Vietnam is nothing like what most people imagine. In the last 40 years this war torn country has re-invented itself into a regional financial, agricultural, and commerce center of the Far East.

Saigon River
Ho Chi Minh

Ba Thien Hau Temple

Presidential Palace

Until Saigon fell in 1975 this was where the country was governed from. After 1975 the capital moved to Hanoi and now the old Presidential Palace is a museum.

Central Post Office

A great example of French Colonial architecture that has survived.

Lacquerware Factory

BAO TANG LICH SU Museum

Milestone: 60 Countries

Today marks Scott’s 60th country visited!

Thailand

Christmas, Family, Thailand, Travel

Merry Christmas from Thailand. However, given the International Date Line and so many timezone differences it felt like Christmas was almost 3 days long.

Our first port was outside of Bangkok, near Pattaya (which I am sure helps everyone know better where we landed).

Christmas morning

Yes, we brought a Christmas tree.

Nongnoch Tropical Garden

Google this place. It is amazing. Also, Mathieu got a lot of love from some elephants.

Awkward!
Mathieu needs a Thai massage.
VIDEO: Thai massage, may not be suitable for children! 😲😎

VIDEO – An amazing Thai culture show.

VIDEO: An amazing Thai cultural show.

And then for the strange part. During Covid the owner wanted to keep his employees employed. So he had a wild idea to add sculptured dinosaurs to the garden. Sort of his own Jurassic Park, just less bloodshed. I guess Covid lasted longer than planned as they went a bit overboard.

This is truly only a small percentage of the dinosaurs they made in 18 months.

Bangkok: Christmas Dinner Cruise

Our hotel (Hilton on the right)
Temple of the Dawn (at night).
Royal Palace

Flower Market

Jonathan in flower heaven

ICONSiam – Shopping

Thank you Mr. Chob’s Thai Tour Guide! And of course Joy, our friend and best helper ever in Thailand. We met Mr. Chob 20 years ago on our Orient Express Thailand tour, and he introduced us to Joy on our RTW trip 5+ years ago. It was so wonderful to have Joy be with us again.

This is Mr. Chob’s company. We highly recommend his help when you come to Bangkok. https://www.thaitourguide.com/

Merry Christmas everyone!

Next stop – Vietnam!