Saigon Vietnam, April 2025

Our first stop in Vietnam was Ho Chi Minh City, still known as Saigon by many of the Vietnamese people. This was another stop where we had an overnight in port, so we had two days to visit Saigon.

On the first day, we took a guided bus tour to visit the Independence Palace, the Saigon Central Post Office and a few other sites, including the Rex Hotel which was home base for many journalists who covered the Vietnam War. This was a fabulous tour, mostly because of the best tour guide in the world - Tran - who could switch back and forth between telling tragic history and making some of the funniest jokes I have every heard. Tran was a blast!

By chance, we had arrived in Ho Chi Minh City the week before the 50th anniversary of the Fall of Saigon, which occurred when a North Vietnamese tank broke through the gates to enter the palace grounds. This occasion meant that the city and its people were dressed up in flags, and the Independence Palace grounds were set up ready for the big celebration. There were even some officers from that day in full uniform mingling with the tourists for photos - it was all a bit unreal, but lovely to see the Vietnamese people so happy and patriotic.

The second day in Saigon, we had a private guide and driver take us into the city for lunch and some shopping and exploring by foot. Laura had done her research and booked us a reservation at a Michelin starred restaurant, located in a courtyard in an unassuming part of town. The restaurant is Hao Tuc, and we cannot recommend it enough. We had the best grilled chicken dish ever there - "Grilled chicken salad with baby spinach, green mango & peperomia leaves" - who knew grilled chicken could be so flavorful and so tender. The other dishes we sampled were excellent too.

Singapore April 2025

Laura and I had both been to Singapore before on business, but this was our first time with time to explore during the day. The ship did an overnight in Singapore so we had an afternoon and an evening to see the city and its surroundings. You notice several things about Singapore almost immediately - it is prosperous, clean, efficient and tiny. It is quite amazing how much international trade and commerce goes through this tiny city state.

On the first day in Singapore we took an excursion called "Singapore - how we live" which attempted to give us insight into what it is like to live as a resident of Singapore. We visited the Marina Barrage and saw how technology is used to hold freshwater for drinking and also keep sea water out and control flooding. We also visited a government building where people go to buy apartments, which included displays of all the housing projects being built and maintained. These are not your typical government housing projects - rather they are modern, well designed and with lots of green space - but still they are tiny. Real estate is hugely expensive so people live in tight quarters. Finally we got to ride the subway back to the ship. That evening we went back out to the city, had cocktails at the Fullerton Hotel and dinner at a nice back street bistro restaurant.

On the second day we canceled our pre-booked tour and went ashore now confident we could get around on the subway. We headed to the Singapore Botanic Garden, where despite the heat and humidity we enjoyed a lovely couple of hours exploring everything they had to offer without climbing a tower. We had a nice lunch out and we headed back to the ship. On to the next place!

Indonesia April 2025

The cruise started from Bali, so we flew in a few days early. Bali has many high end resorts around its spectacular coastline, with rooms costing much less than the same level of resort in America or Europe. The Balinese people are incredibly welcoming, the service was amazing, the food was very good, and while we were there the weather was cooperative for several pool and beach days.

We had intended to explore more of the island, but like many visitors to Bali, we did not leave our resort until time to check out, which in our case meant a transfer to the cruise port to get on our cruise ship, the Seven Seas Voyager - the same ship that took us to Antarctica last year!

Our first stop on the cruise was Surabaya, west of Bali on the north coast of Indonesia. We took a guided excursion that took in the Sanggar Agung Temple and Heroes Monument. The dragon sculptures at the temple were particularly impressive. The Heroes Monument is dedicated to the many who died in the Battle of Surabaya in November 1945, a battle that would eventually lead to independence for Indonesia.

The final stop in Indonesia was at Semarang, where we visited Lawang Sewu, the newly restored headquarters of the Dutch East India Railroad. Lawang Sewu means "A thousand doors" in Javanese, which is a slight exaggeration, but all the doors, windows and floors are made with teak wood. The buildings also have a flooded basement which served as early air conditioning, keeping the buildings cool in the tropical heat.