An Explosion of Senses!

Another great Thailand sunrise On Monday, we toured the great city of Bangkok, Thailand – on foot in the morning, by boat in the afternoon. Our tour guide’s name was Sam, which is short for the longer, Thai version of his name. Sam said that Thai names are very long, and when he told us his full first name, it was nine syllables long.   Sam Sam started off by apologizing to us if his English was a bit rusty. He said that during the last three years of the Covid lockdowns, he hadn’t had much chance to use English. This is only his second tour since the country has re-opened to outside visitors. To calm his nerves, he started by singing a song. So we started our tour by being serenaded with Sam’s version of “Beyond the Sea.” According to Sam, 93.5% of the population of Thailand is Buddhist, 4% is Muslim, and 2% is Christian. The Buddhist influence is everywhere with many temples, including some that Thailand is famous for, such as the Emerald Buddha and the Reclining Buddha. ...

  Good morning, Thailand! On Sunday, we took an excursion to one of the famed, beautiful Thailand beaches. Our boat was anchored offshore, and we took a tender to the island of Koh Samui.  Tender Then we boarded minivans and took a half hour drive to the beach. When the minivan dropped us off, a Viking tour guide walked us through an open-air mall and through a hotel lobby, where we took a pathway that took us down to the hotel’s private beach area. Apparently Viking has a deal with the hotel where they let us use their private beach. The Koh Samui beach was beautiful: white sands, palm trees, clear green water, and perfect weather. We found a spot under a coconut tree where we could lie out in the shade of the tree or right next to it in full sun. We went into the water and enjoyed its warmth and the soft, gentle swells of the waves. What a nice, enjoyable change of pace.   After some relaxing time on the beach, we decided to go get a bite to eat and then do some shoppin...

  View of Singapore from where the ship docked On Friday, we toured the city/state/country of Singapore. Singapore is located at the tip of the Malay peninsula, and is the world’s largest island city-state. It is reminiscent of the ancient city states such as Sparta and Athens. The country consists of one big major island and 63 smaller islands. Most of the population lives on the big island. Singapore used to be part of Malaysia but separated from Malaysia because of deep political and economic differences, and became an independent country in 1965. So it’s basically what used to be a city that overnight became a country. There was a struggle at first to get on its feet, but eventually Singapore did very well and today is known for its highly advanced technology and economic prowess. The first stop on our tour was near the Old Parliament building, a few other government buildings, a green park, and a stroll along an esplanade next to the river that runs through Singapore....

On Thursday, Joe and I took separate tours for the second and last time, since we wanted to see different things. The tour I took was a general overview of the city of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. For a long time, the only thing I knew about Kuala Lumpur was that it was home to the world’s tallest building, the Petronas Towers. These twin towers were officially designated as the world’s tallest buildings from 1998 to 2003. While the twin Towers are no longer the world’s tallest buildings, they are still a landmark in this city. The highlight of my day was getting to see these famous twin towers up close and in person. It was the last stop of our day, so more about that later. Our tour guide’s name was Ho, and she was delightful. Everything she said was with a big smile, and sometimes a chuckle, even if she was just telling us about the weather.   Ho As we started out from the port, Ho told us that we would have an hour drive into the city of Kuala Lumpur. She said that we may run ...