As ports are coming thick and fast now, here's a compilation.
Phuket
We've been coming to Thailand on and off since 1974 so have seen a lot of changes, good and bad
.
Phuket used to be a bit of a backpackers' unspoiled island and have normal-sized fully grown lobsters.
Gradually it's become expensive, with a sprawl of hotels and pathetically tiny, immature lobsters.
In a nutshell -- overfished, over-priced and over-run.
Still, it's good to be in Thailand, to smell the curries and wet earth and see those forested islands surrounded by clear blue water.
We didn't have time to do much in just a few hours so a group of us piled into a local 'bus' into old Phuket town.
This place is still the same tangle of overhead electricity cables, broken pavements and cheap shops but has gone slightly upmarket with the odd cafe geared to 'farangs' like us.
We spent a goodly bit of time in a cafe decorated with antique bikes and radios but best of all, with free wifi
.
Then after walking around the town's temple, we spent almost as long trying to get back before the last tender left us behind.
The trip back wasn't quite as cheap as the drivers know it's a sellers' market at that time of the day.
On the other hand it was roomier, this time in the back of a pick-up truck and not with me stuck up front wedged between Rick, the gear stick and the driver as on the way in.
Quite luxurious really.
Also it was very satisfying knowing that we spent a fraction of what other passengers paid for the ship's shuttle.
Singapore
I'd been looking forward to a day back in Singapore but we had so many things to try to do that we ended up rushing from place to place that we ended up with virtually no fun time-- apart from meeting up with our friend Mike at the crack of dawn
.
On the other hand, it was great to catch up after quite a few years and meet up with one of Rick's former colleagues a bit later, fortunately in the same location.
After that it was time to hit the marvellous MRT and dash from pillar to post in a fruitless search for a camera (Sim Lin Square), banking stuff (Suntec and Raffles Place) and then a bit of a hobble with blistered feet back to the ship.
The view of the Singaporean shore was as brilliant as ever, the locals who helped us find our way when lost amid the myriad shops at 7am went beyond the call of duty, and the place runs like clockwork, as always.
We definitely need to put in a few days next time round -- which won't be by ship.
The food is becoming boringly bland and we're craving a curry!
Ship Update
Three passengers so far have been helicoptered off for emergency medical treatment, and the goss is that three have died!
Koh Samui
Again, with little time and also having spent some time here before, we just wandered around Nat horn town exploring free wifi cafes and enjoying a great red curry and fresh vegetable spring rolls
.
At last, food with flavour!
With drizzly weather and not much else going on in this rather chaotic town, we just enjoyed being in fresh Thai air, with great views and food that tasted alive.
Laem Chabang -- Otherwise known as the gateway to Bangkok.
This day was a mixture of good and bad -- many good things and one big bad.
We started well by not having to waste hours tendering into the port, so had much longer to spend ashore.
Then we'd had the good fortune, way back in time and space, to have been standing next to a couple from Liverpool in the embarkation queue at Southampton.
Sandra and David have kept us in laughs and escapades ever since -- and this day was no exception
.
Being very outgoing people, they'd gathered together a group to share a minibus so after some quick haggling, we all set off with our patient driver and Dave as chief guide.
None of us were keen on facing the crowds in Bangkok, especially with the death of the King complicating things, so heading to the area around Pattaya seemed a better bet.
Dave organised a brilliant day, fitting in ATM visits as people ran through their baht stashes, cultural sites, lunch and beer stops.
First stop was the most amazing and unexpected place, the Sanctuary of Truth, outside Pattaya.
We had no idea this even existed and if this was all we'd seen that day, it would have been worth the trip.
Constructed entirely of wood with carvings continuing to be created on every surface, it was truly a wondrous sight
.
Each of its four halls related to various aspects of existence, using mainly a Hindu world view.
Hall one was about physical reality and the four elements -- earth, wind, water and fire -- and the processes of birth, preservation and death.
Hall two outlined humanity and the impact of different characters and temperaments.
Hall three explained human duties and responsibilities -- basically the Golden Rule.
Hall four focused on family life.
There wasn't a thing here anyone could rationally disagree with.
The carvings, the iconography, the myths simply provide a vehicle for expressing physical and psychological truths.
Next up was a fab golden Buddha created on a huge hill where the outline had been lasered out and then filled with gold
.
Very serene and beautiful in that Thai whimsical way.
This area outside Pattaya was very pleasant too with plenty of greenery still left and a few houses surrounded by orchards, forest and crop lands.
Next up was a bit of a culture shock with the squat and more garish Chinese temple, Viharnra Sien.
The colours were fantastical, as were the dragon carvings.
Up on the roof terrace were some extremely realistic Kung fu warriors and a slew of more unrealistic ancient warriors.
We particularly liked the wise sage statues of Chinese Taoist philosophers such as Lao Tse.
The morbidly obese laughing Buddha statues, however, were less appealing especially after witnessing similar bodies lounging around the pool here on board
.
The next spot was, like the Sanctuary of Truth, a massive surprise and also a reality check.
Wat Yannasangwararam
I didn't expect to see such beauty but using contemporary artwork in a traditional Thai Buddhist setting.
The site contained Buddhist educational buildings, a lovely hospital and temples -- all built within the last 20 or so years.
This was a place of tranquillity and contemplation so it was good to see so many serious and respectful visitors soaking it all in.
The main exhibition was entitled: To What Did the Buddha Awaken?
It starts with a big question mark artwork in blue/green glass and then takes you along a path of six boats, all related to how we live in this 'floating' world.
Again, seeing the artworks and reading the commentary, I couldn't find anything but truths found in most religious, scientific and moral frameworks
... But all in one place and all connected.
Our last 'cultural' stop was the very traditional -- and more touristy -- Wat Phra Yai.
So here it was up the snake staircase to the Buddhas on top, with great views over the one and only really bad part of the day.
Pattaya.
Admittedly we hadn't been here since the mid 70s when we lived in Bangkok. We came here for short breaks, staying in villas owned by the US military.
Back then it was a pretty fishing village with one main road lined with a few decent European-style restaurants, a pleasant enough beach and boats to take you out to the 'island' where we would sit around in our swim suits under bamboo shelters eating crab lunches.
Now it's simply appalling.
Its many roads are clogged with traffic, there are some huge tower blocks of criminal hideousness, the cramped, endless shops are dirty, ugly, with bundles of blackened electricity cables snaking overhead
.
The bars are full of ageing, overweight, pathetic-looking European men sitting alone or with tired-looking Thai girls, trying to appear animated.
We did have a decent Thai curry lunch though, again a welcome change from the bland food on board.
Another bonus was that Dave and Rick managed to fit in economical haircuts at a weirdly totally silent barber shop, while Sandra and I sat watching another customer having his ears cleaned with a very scary and very pointy instrument.
Our trusty driver picked us up at the appointed spot outside a bar just at the start of Pattaya's peak hour, so after battling through the traffic, whisked us away from these horrors and back to the ship.
The best thing that could happen to Pattaya is for a huge sink hole to swallow it up --while preserving those lovely places in the hinterland
.
So to those of you who shared some time with us here all those years ago -- Michael Wakeford, Monica Morrow, Vivienne and Peter Harling, and Andy (as a baby) -- don't consider Pattaya as a holiday destination for even a split second.
It's nearly at the end of its lifecycle. It was born as a tiny fishing village, preserved for all too brief a time as a pleasant leisure spot and now slowly being destroyed in this hellish incarnation.
To end on a happy note -- thankfully we, unlike those unfortunate Thai girls, aren't condemned to live there.
And secondly, we were lucky enough to run into guides from, of all places, Liverpool, who enabled us to experience so many sublime places that provided the perfect antidote.
As well as a reality check.
All in all, a truly yin yang day
.
Asian Waters
Monday, October 31, 2016
Muang Pattaya, Chang Wat Chon Buri, Thailand
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