Live from Insignia

[SellaVee]

Thanks, guys and gals, for your words of encouragement. I sometimes feel I'm wittering away in the wilderness and boring the pants off everyone since this is a long thread with mainly my input, so I'm glad folks are enjoying it.

 

Right now we are approaching Shanghai. We've been in the channel since about 0400 hours and it's now 8am. It's like a scene from "The War of the Worlds" out there as we're in the middle of an industrial landscape - lots of barges, cranes and metal structures. I love it.

 

This cruise has been so exciting in terms of sights and sounds. Not only that but there is a faint glimmer of sun and a hint of blue sky, though I have to say it's a bit chilly to be out on the verandah taking pictures in one's nightie.

[buggins0402]

I'm also am enjoying your posts and wit. Agree with PC..keep 'em coming!

[wally_bushy]

Thanks, guys and gals, for your words of encouragement. I sometimes feel I'm wittering away in the wilderness and boring the pants off everyone since this is a long thread with mainly my input, so I'm glad folks are enjoying it.

 

Right now we are approaching Shanghai. We've been in the channel since about 0400 hours and it's now 8am. It's like a scene from "The War of the Worlds" out there as we're in the middle of an industrial landscape - lots of barges, cranes and metal structures. I love it.

 

This cruise has been so exciting in terms of sights and sounds. Not only that but there is a faint glimmer of sun and a hint of blue sky, though I have to say it's a bit chilly to be out on the verandah taking pictures in one's nightie.

You are not alone:)

Keep posting, I am enjoying your trip

It is similar to one we have planned

Edited April 10, 2015 by wally_bushy

[warburg]

Thanks, guys and gals, for your words of encouragement. I sometimes feel I'm wittering away in the wilderness and boring the pants off everyone since this is a long thread with mainly my input, so I'm glad folks are enjoying it.

 

Right now we are approaching Shanghai. We've been in the channel since about 0400 hours and it's now 8am. It's like a scene from "The War of the Worlds" out there as we're in the middle of an industrial landscape - lots of barges, cranes and metal structures. I love it.

 

This cruise has been so exciting in terms of sights and sounds. Not only that but there is a faint glimmer of sun and a hint of blue sky, though I have to say it's a bit chilly to be out on the verandah taking pictures in one's nightie.

 

Let me add my thanks for your charming narratives, SellaVee. Your posts have been interesting and informative, as well. We sailed on Insignia in 2004 in Oceania's infancy. We board again June 4th in Los Angeles for the Panama Canal.

Mary

[SellaVee]

Well, the sun came out, the beautiful teak decks dried out and all the sun loungers came out of hiding, so we had a sail in party on the pool deck as we docked in Shanghai. Unbelievably we are tied up a stones throw from the Bund and bang smack opposite the Oriental Pearl Tower.

 

While the formalities were taken care of we had a quick lunch in Waves then headed into town. Once again Oceania laid on a shuttle bus for the short drive to the start of the Bund.

 

We strolled along this riverside promenade marvelling at the iconic skyline then took the ferry to Pudong where we walked to the aforementioned tower before taking the Bund Sightseeing Tunnel back to the Puxi side.

 

Sadly this was our last full day on board, so we finished our cruise in style with dinner in Toscana. We had a window table overlooking the river, which was flanked by brightly illuminated buildings on either side and were able to watch the equally brightly lit river cruise boats going up and down. Quite often a huge barge would go past with a single navigation light fore and aft, looking eerily sleek, gliding through the black water on this busy river. The view was simply stunning.

 

Our cases are packed and have been collected so after breakfast tomorrow it's goodbye Insignia.

 

I've left out four days in Vietnam, which were a highlight of this trip, due to lack of time. I've also got some reflections on sea days and we have some interesting things planned for Shanghai.

 

If you'll bear with me I'll continue posting as and when time permits to complete the story of our SE Asia sojourn.

 

Sella

[turnip eater]

Enjoy the rest of your trip and safe trip home:(.

 

Thank you again for letting us come on the journey with you:)

[turnip eater]

The safe trip line should finish with a :) not a :(.

 

I tried to amend it but no success:p

[fairbourne]

Thank you for taking us along too! :)

 

You have missed some unseasonably warm weather here in the UK - we had a high of 17C here yesterday! :eek: Think it's back to normal over the weekend.

 

Last time we were in Shanghai, my DH was not very well - it was a land trip and he'd picked up a flu type bug - and I wanted to get some olbas oil for him to try and clear his sinuses. So off I went with our guide and she took me to a Tesco store! Tesco, in China, I couldn't believe my eyes! The only disappointment was they didn't take my clubcard! LOL! but they did have olbas oil which we got to eventually with all sorts of sign language and amateur dramatics!

 

It's a beautiful waterfront - safe onwards travels. :)

[SellaVee]

Thank you for taking us along too! :)

 

You have missed some unseasonably warm weather here in the UK - we had a high of 17C here yesterday! :eek: Think it's back to normal over the weekend.

 

Last time we were in Shanghai, my DH was not very well - it was a land trip and he'd picked up a flu type bug - and I wanted to get some olbas oil for him to try and clear his sinuses. So off I went with our guide and she took me to a Tesco store! Tesco, in China, I couldn't believe my eyes! The only disappointment was they didn't take my clubcard! LOL! but they did have olbas oil which we got to eventually with all sorts of sign language and amateur dramatics!

 

It's a beautiful waterfront - safe onwards travels. :)

 

I actually stopped to photograph a Tesco store, I was so surprised to see one! This was on the same day that I took a wet market tour that was yet another highlight on this fantastic trip. More about that later, but talk about contrasts.

 

I'm home now and will make time to gather my thoughts. I could write a book about this cruise, it has been so exciting.

 

But first, I must tackle the Kilimanjaro of laundry.

[SellaVee]

Here's a page from my journal that I didn't have time to post whilst on board. I was in lyrical mode at the start of the day.

 

It's April Fool's Day today and the heavens have conspired to fool me into thinking I'm in paradise. I woke up early to the soothing sounds of the ocean and peeked through the curtains to find a blazing, blinding, beautiful sun facing me. I ordered morning tea from room service and prepared to ease myself gently into the day.

 

By now we've moved a little and so I'm lying in my air conditioned sanctuary watching that same brilliant sun scattering diamond chips of sunlight on the surface of the ocean causing rippling reflections to bounce off the verandah door. I could lie here all day but OH wants his breakfast so off we go to start the day.

 

After breakfast I joined Claudia for needlepoint, coffee, and social chat. When I arrived in Horizons she was taking a Sit to be Fit class - chair based exercises for the arthritic of knee and poor of proprioception. I'd have liked to have joined in but my lazybones start to the day meant it was almost over by the time I got there.

 

This was my first foray to needlepoint - I'm not usually so ladylike these days - but I loved needlework when I was at school. Claudia provides little kits with everything you need and today we were making cases for our glasses - a handy thing as I have four pairs of specs with me. I've a few hours of needlepoint ahead to complete it. It would be a excellent time filler on a long haul flight, but apparently although the blunt needles we use are allowed on the plane, scissors to cut the thread are not.

 

OH went to the Captains's lecture on piracy and reported back that he had updated it since 2012. He found it very interesting.

 

After lunch I skipped Latin Line Dancing in favour of Mah Jong. We started with a little Cruise Critic group but since the details appeared in Currents we've grown and grown. Kudos to Becky our volunteer teacher who has been marvellous and so patient, giving up her own time to introduce us to this game like no other I have ever played. There were 18 participants for beginners' Mah Jong and O provided the card room and the Mah Jong sets. Regular players can organise games too.

 

After two games of Mah Jong I was ready for afternoon tea, which segued nicely into Happy Hour with OH, then it was time to glam things up a bit for dinner and the show.

 

I've always admired those people who can turn up to afternoon tea and/or Happy Hour looking like they belong in a cruise line brochure. I'm usually found modelling the "dragged through a hedge backwards" look at 4 o'clock and need some serious time doing hair and makeup to look half way presentable.

[SellaVee]

The following posts will be in a rather random order as some were started but not finished while we were still on board.

 

I'll cut and paste into a Word document from this thread in order to put the cruise in chronological order for myself once I've completed my ramblings. Once I'm retired I might even do a photo book!

 

I tried to copy and paste the itinerary from my invoice here but it just doesn't work because the original was in a table, however I'm sure everyone will have a copy of it, including the little map, in one of the many Oceania brochures we receive every now and again.

 

In Oceania terms now and again means ..................*

 

*fill in the blank yourself!

[SellaVee]

Today we joined a CC group for a private tour of Xiamen. Our guide, Candy, was charming with excellent English and yellow flag for us to follow. Yellow is a popular choice of flag colour in Xiamen ......... fortunately we managed to stay together despite starting the day with a trip on the public ferry to Gulangyu Island which was packed chockablock with tourists, mainly Chinese. Some of those little old ladies may be vertically challenged but they sure know how to shove. As we snaked up the path from the boat, by now in a more orderly formation, one of them engaged me in conversation. I understood not a word, but she was much encouraged by my "ni hao" and continued on with a great deal of beaming and head nodding.

 

In fact we found ourselves to be celebrities on both the ferry going over, where some of our group were asked to join the wedding photos of a bride and groom, and on Gulangyu Island itself where not only were young couples posing for pictures bedside us, but some were even trying to hand over small children for a photo op with "the foreigners". As welcoming as we were every single child screamed blue murder at the sight of an electric cart full of Westerners and refused point blank to come near us!

 

The main vehicles on Gulangyu Island are electric carts and fortunately our guide had organised one for us, for ours was a whistle-stop tour of the island. The only combustion engine vehicles in use are the refuse collection ones. Goods are delivered by boat and distributed by hand cart and there were many of these waiting by the dock, their owners seeking employment.

 

It is a very popular spot for wedding pictures and I lost count of the number of brides, grooms and professional photographers we saw, and not just outside the church.

 

The island is famous for it's piano museums and before we left we were lucky enough to enjoy a short one tune piano recital from one of the young women who worked there. I was seriously impressed but then I can only play Jingle Bells. The piano museums were surprisingly interesting (and made a change from temples).

 

At Hi Heaven Villa on the island we saw a puppet show that was great fun. The set up was similar to Punch and Judy but the puppeteers were much more skilled and after the performance they came out front to demonstrate how they achieved the effects they produced. We all loved it and were laughing out loud at some of the tricks those puppets could do. Afterwards we went upstairs for a traditional music performance. Our guide had told us it might put us to sleep and she wasn't wrong.

 

Gulangyu has lots of different styles of architecture and some attractive beaches. There's a lookout point with very many steps which we didn't have time to climb. (Phew). I could easily have spent the whole day there. It's worth looking up the history of the island, and indeed of Xiamen.

 

Back on Xiamen itself we had time for lunch and a visit to a tea house. The young chap performing the tea ritual had written a thesis on tea while at university. He had provided copies of this for us to look at - in Chinese. I hadn't the heart to tell him I couldn't read it. (Though to be honest, you'd have thought a university educated chap could have worked that out just by looking at me. That "ni hao" of mine must be truly amazing.)

 

After tea we visited the Nanputuo Temple an amazing complex of buildings that went on and on, many containing fabulous gold or painted and embellished figures to creat a series of temples. Behind it there was a hill one could climb up for the view. Once again we didn't have time. (Another phew!). We saw monks in their robes going about their business showing us that this was more than just a tourist attraction. It was very busy but if you went in further you could find a quieter spot. Being a small group in a van we were able to be dropped off just across the road. Two of our group had done the ship's tour the previous day and said that they'd been dropped off some distance away and not everyone was happy. They had spent an hour there and were happy to return as there was so much to see.

 

We just had time for a trip around the ring road which would have given us fantastic views - had it not been dull, grey and overcast - then it was back to the ship.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Sella, I am very much enjoying your posts, and am looking forward to continuing my vicarious journey with you. I like the way you write and your sense of humour. You almost make me want to do a longer cruise, which I've never imagined doing. I do have an appreciation for the part of the world you started out in, and agree it's absolutely fascinating, despite the heat.

 

With the ship half full, did they upgrade many? I guess the difficulty would be full WCers versus segment travellers and juggling cabins as pax come and go. But I'm thinking about those inside cabins and hoping they are empty!

[SellaVee]

Thanks, Wendy, I have to say I'm really enjoy writing about this trip because there is so much to remember and doing it "live" was great - on board I just didn't have enough hours in the day to complete the story. It's the first time I've tried it. We had a great cruise on Riviera last year and I didn't make a single note!

 

We were away for 26 days because we added on time in both Singapore and Shanghai. I could easily have stayed on board longer but OH is much less of an avid cruiser than me and he was ready to come home. I also think it's good to leave yourself wanting more.

 

Re upgrades: I asked our cabin steward if deck 3 had been closed because it struck me that that would be an obvious thing to do, but he said no. I think it's because the World Cruise had originally sold very well so there were people on every deck for the remainder of the World Cruise and, as you suggested, they didn't want to be juggling people. There was to be a net gain of passengers in Shanghai and probably on other segments. Apparently the next World Cruise is full.

 

On our roll call some people, including me, posted stateroom changes and these were obviously upgrades or upsells. We actually saw an O website price drop (which was quickly changed to a free upgrade) in an email from an agency so I got my TA to request one for us and after a while they said yes. This costs the line nothing and is good customer relations. Before we left there were a lot of incentives appearing for the remaining segments.

[SellaVee]

Scooters!

 

We docked in Ho Chi Minh City at lunchtime and joined a CC private tour of the city, still commonly referred to as Saigon, and so began our introduction to the world of the Vietnamese scooter. There are more than 7.5 million people in Saigon and it seems like most of them have scooters! At traffic junctions it's like the charge of the scooter brigade.

 

The traffic lights seem to run on very long cycles enabling a huge mass of scooters to reach the starting line, then - they're off, wiggling and weaving their way through the rest of the traffic. Young men and women and whole families too join this daily parade through town. For the girls it's like a fashion show with high heels the norm and some riding side saddle (an alarming but perhaps wise choice if you're wearing a pencil mini skirt). Many people wear anti pollution masks and these too become a fashion statement. Did you know you can buy matching face masks, gloves and high heels? Leopard skin and floral patterns are popular. For the boys helmets can be used to indicate support for a favourite football team by the addition of a stick on decal - which would probably increase the efficacy of some of the helmets we saw.

 

A scooter isn't just a means of personal transport. It can become your very own removal van provided you have sufficient bungee cords, string and duct tape or alternatively a mate willing to ride pillion while holding onto your fridge freezer. It was reported amongst our group that someone saw a scooter transporting a dining table and four chairs. We then speculated on the possibility of taking granny along by the simple expedient of sitting her on one of the chairs. I suppose it depends on the size of one's grandmother.

 

Flat screen TVs and enormous pictures in frames are, apparently, an easy peasy item to transport, which led me to wonder whether, with a spare car battery or two on board, granny could watch her favourite TV programme while on the move. Obviously this would require 2 scooters, the one in front having the TV in order to obtain an optimum viewing distance.

 

In terms of recycling, empty glass Coke bottles would be piled many crates high on the back of a scooter, adding a musical dimension to cornering, but cardboard was relegated to the more humble bicycle, flattened boxes being tied on to the front, presumably to cushion the rider when he was knocked from his bike by a scooter.

 

Talking of which, no sooner had we asked our guide if there were many accidents (yes) than we were side swiped by a young man as he wove his way through the sea of scooters. Those of us on that side of the van saw him coming but other than breathing in there was nothing we could do.

 

Now a small Vietnamese guy on a scooter is no match for a mini bus full of Western cruisers. In fact if he'd hit any single one of us he'd probably have come off worst. He bounced off the van and landed on his side on the road. Another rider immediately stopped to help him and thankfully the car behind him stopped. We came to a halt a little bit up the road. The rider stood up, brushed himself off, checked his wristwatch was ok, picked up his shopping and got back on his bike.* We carried on with our journey. There was no exchanging of phone numbers or insurance details. It was just an everyday prang in Saigon. The next traffic accident we witnessed was in China and that seemed to involve much more officialdom.

 

*Does anyone remember judo lessons as a child when the first thing you have to learn is how to fall? I did wonder if this was part of scooter training in Saigon.

[SellaVee]

The journey up the Saigon River was fascinating. OH and I had gone up to Horizons after breakfast to observe the approach and at one point it appeared that we were on a collision course with a large container ship since both vessels were trying to keep to the centre of the channel. Insignia won this particular game of “chicken” and the container ship passed us on our port side.

 

Since I couldn’t stand the excitement I went to the Insignia Lounge for an enrichment lecture with Jaina Mishra on Asian Jewelry Traditions (sic). I’d sat next to Jaina on the shuttle into Sihanoukville and found her charming. Then it was down to the cabin to get ready for the afternoon's outing. The Captain had made good time on our journey up river and we arrived well before our noon ETA.

 

When we docked the quayside was lined with young Vietnamese women in traditional dress holding balloons which they released as we arrived. Once we were tied up and the formalities taken care of they formed a greeting line at the foot of the gangplank. Several people had their photographs taken with the girls but I felt that the comparison between me and them would not be in my favour so I simply admired their beauty from the side lines ;). I found the welcome charming and a delightful start to our time in Saigon.

Edited April 16, 2015 by SellaVee

[SellaVee]

I have to confess I found the scooters in Vietnam almost as fascinating as the temples! Browsing our photographs, which OH has since uploaded, I counted 16 crates of Coke bottles on the back of 1 scooter. Alongside this there are people walking along with bamboo poles across their shoulder and fully filled baskets dangling from either side, looking for all the world like a walking balance scale, with the conical hats, or non la, completing the picture.

 

Our drive through China Town was a colourful and vibrant visual feast. The shops seemed to be arranged according to product, so there would be a hat street, a fabric street, a flower street, a car parts street, a mask street, a fruit and veg street and so on - such a change from our homogenous British high streets.

 

Our first stop was at the Heavenly Lady, or Thien Hau Temple. This temple had many incense coils hanging from the ceiling in the partially covered courtyard - and restrooms for Western tourist who’d been on the bus a while :D.

 

Next up was the Giac Lam Temple, a much larger affair built in 1744, probably at that time in the countryside but now surrounded on all sides by buildings. This place had a cemetery and a stupa or pagoda where people could place urns containing the ashes of relatives who had died. Inside the temple there were many photographs of the deceased, displayed in small frames.

 

Having met our temple quota for the day we headed to the War Remnants Museum and managed to meet up with some of our group who had arrived back from a side trip to Angkor Wat. Having just come off the plane they looked so much fresher than we city tour folks :p.

 

I could easily have spent the day in the War Remnants Museum, in particular the top floor which was dedicated to war photographers. There was one photograph of a young woman wading across a river with her children, hoping to reach a safe place. The photographer had won an award for the image and when he returned to Vietnam he was able to meet the young family for they had survived. I was moved to tears by this story.

 

Our next stop was at a lacquerware factory. Although it was interesting to see I’m at the stage where I need to de clutter before I can re clutter so we were not tempted though there were many beautiful items.

 

We had to settle for a quick drive past Notre Dame Cathedral and we missed the Central Post Office which I’d have liked to visit, not because I had postcards to send (hooray for email, at least we know it turns up) but in order to admire the building. However we were running short of time and our lunch at Pho 2000 had turned into dinner.

 

Afterwards we went for coffee on the rooftop of the Rex Hotel. Now this was meant to have happened during the afternoon but by now we were well into the evening and it was dark when we arrived. After my disappointment with the tourist trap that is Raffles Hotel Singapore I was blown away by the Rex Hotel Saigon. Quite apart from its history the place is beautiful and because we’d arrived in the evening we avoided the noise of the construction that’s going on outside the hotel. It was like arriving in a luxurious oasis at the end of a weary day. Out rooftop spot was so romantic, just OH and I, (and the rest of our tour group and our guide) and the iced coffee was delicious. I’ll remember that evening for a long time and if I ever go back to visit Saigon on a land tour I’m staying at the Rex Hotel.

[Jancruz]

Stu and I also spent an evening on the rooftop of the Rex and there was a wonderful show which we will remember forever..The spa in the Rex was also amazing we went to have an hour massage and when it was over it was $10 a person.,,a truly wonderful experience..we have been to Vietnam several times and it is our favorite Asian country..

Jancruz1

[SellaVee]

I think it's now become ours too. We're already thinking about going back. We loved every minute we were there.

[SellaVee]

We've enjoyed many overnights in port on this cruise – only the “resort” stops like Koh Samui and Sihanoukville have been day visits. In all of the cities we visited we’ve stayed overnight, which has really taken some of the pressure off private touring.

 

Not only that, the entertainment on “overnights” has been low key, so I haven’t felt I was missing anything too special on those nights I collapsed in a heap on my return; and each two day stop has been followed by a sea day, giving us time to relax and recover.

 

After our day in Saigon we knew we had an early start the next day for our Mekong Delta tour so we headed to the back of the boat for a drink and a snack – meals eaten with chopsticks, as ours had been in Pho 2000, are never quite as filling as those one can shovel down with a fork ;).

 

There have been so very many “Wows” on this trip but stepping outside and seeing the night time view of Saigon was breath-taking. Insignia’s small ship ability to get right into town is priceless and the balmy evening temperatures have made sitting out a joy. As usual the staff members were welcoming and wonderful and our favourite sommelier Oksana lifted our spirits in no time by bringing wine and beer toute de suite as if her main aim in life was to make us happy.

 

We enjoyed seeing the party boat that was berthed off our stern, but I’m not sure those in the aft cabins appreciated the “all about the bass” beat. It was an attractive replica wooden sailing vessel that I’d admired earlier and lit up it looked lovely, especially to the hard of hearing :D! Since we weren’t yet trying to sleep we were happy to chill for a while before bed :cool:.

[no fuss travel]

Did you go to Hanoi. We really enjoyed our overnight there. The Sofitel Metropole Hotel was incredible.

[SellaVee]

Yes, we did go to Hanoi. After Saigon we had a sea day then we stopped at Halong Bay. These were our only stops in Vietnam, so we didn't see Hue or Hoi An.

 

Before we travelled we didn't want too many stops in Vietnam. Having been there now I don't think you can have too many stops in Vietnam.

[SellaVee]

Our second day in Saigon required a very early start - too early for breakfast in the Terrace Cafe so someone suggested room service. I rang the night before to order breakfast at 5.45am and sure enough we got a call in the morning to say breakfast was on it's way right on time.

 

I felt like a film star when I saw the tray. Right in the middle was a single anthurium in a vase, and there was also a china cruet set, proper cutlery and linen napkins as well as the food and drink we had ordered. What a great start to the day.

 

Because we were going to be eating fairly quickly - no time for a leisurely breakfast - OH asked the steward to just set the tray down. Later in the week I ordered morning tea, plus a boiled egg and a croissant (by then I was getting used to the Oceania lifestyle!) and this time the steward produced a rectangular table top from behind the sofa, added a full length linen tablecloth and set down my breakfast with a flourish while suggesting that I might like an omelet the next time. I felt myself coming over all Downton Abbey!

 

I was now faced with a problem, namely, how was I going to train OH to carry on the good work once we got home :D:D.

[SellaVee]

Our tour guide wanted us to make an early start as we had a long drive to My Tho before we could begin our Mekong trip, He'd ordered a slightly larger bus for us so that we'd be more comfortable on our journey which took us past paddy fields after we'd witnessed the Scooter Grand Prix once again. We were astonished how many families were out on the street at 6.30 in the morning. Not only that, several people had set up pavement market stalls and commerce was well established.

 

Out in the country we were surprised to see how many fields had graves in them, some in groups, others by themselves. Obviously though cremation was popular for city dwellers, in the countryside families preferred burial.

 

At My Tho we passed through the ferry terminal, which had a few stalls, and boarded our boat for a short trip to the fish farm. This was like a big floating raft with the family's living quarters at one end and the fish pens at the other. We walked on planks to see the fish and we were encouraged to feed them. As soon as we dropped the pellets into the water the fish went mad. Honestly if you'd gone there for a fish pedicure you'd have lost a foot!!

 

Back on the ferry again we approached an island with a jetty that was ideal for the nimble. We weren't very nimble, but we all made it ashore.

 

Later on, when we returned from our island visit I heard one of our group say to his wife "Be careful getting on board, the boat is leaning a bit." A few minutes later it was seriously listing to port and it was almost impossible to get back on. Half of our group had gotten back on the boat and all sat on the same side. A shout went up and for a moment I had visions of it turning into a "Carry On" film as everyone rushed to starboard and the boat tipped in the opposite direction. Fortunately in the Vietnam heat no one was rushing anywhere and soon balance was restored. It still makes me smile thinking about it - but then I was on dry land and I can swim!

 

To be continued ........

[SellaVee]

Once on the island we had a walk to an area that had bee hives, where tea, honey and a variety of tasty morsels of dried fruit were being served. This was pleasant but very much geared to the tourist market as indeed was much of this particular tour. However we were more than happy to support their efforts to make a living, so much so that I bought a bag of something that I'm meant to take in tea to improve my liver. It seemed like a good idea at the time as we were living the high life on O. Now that I'm home it's gone into the cupboard where I keep the various supplements I buy - including the one to improve my memory that I keep forgetting to take. I've also forgotten what it's called, but the name starts with Gin!

 

Next up was a visit to a coconut candy "factory". It was extremely basic and quite fascinating to watch, especially seeing the coconut husks being used to make the fire for cooking - the ultimate waste not want not. There was no hard sell and very little time for shopping.

 

We strolled on to another tea stop and this time a very interesting selection of fresh fruit was served and we were treated to a traditional music show from some charming and beautiful young women who sang and some men who played instruments.

 

This was followed by a ride in a pony and trap along a made up road with homes either side. It was interesting to speculate on how much more building would have taken place if we were to return in say 5 years. The ride ended outside a house whose garden we walked through to reach a canal.

 

At the jetty there were many sampans which we were to board in groups of four. I was a bit concerned about the payload so I sent OH on first to provide ballast and to see how much the boat wobbled. All was well and so began yet another highlight on this holiday, for I have to say this was the thing I enjoyed the most on the whole trip.

 

We were kitted out with our conical hats to protect us from the sun and with the almost obligatory beautiful young woman in front and a young man behind we set off on our silent journey along the canal.

 

We'd boarded fairly swiftly so for a while we were out on our own and the palms that grew along the banks formed a tunnel that enclosed us in our own carefree world. We could see signs of life on either side - a jetty here, some washing drying there, and a sampan loaded with cement in anticipation no doubt of the next building project. Soon we met tour groups coming the other way and we all engaged in photographing each other, but we also met ordinary people going about their business on the canal. Sometimes we had a sampan jam that added to the fun and occasionally we had to push off from the bank.

 

Once open water was in sight it was time for us to leave the sampans behind. Now if I thought getting into the boat was tricky, getting out added a whole new dimension of difficulty. Luckily we all made it and soon it was time to get back on the ferry to My Tho and the long drive back to Saigon.

 

Back on the mainland we had a few minutes to browse the market stalls and take advantage of the facilities then it was back on the bus for the drive to the Mekong Rest Stop for lunch. This, once again, was a place for tourists, but a very attractive one, with interesting food. Speaking a someone who likes her fish to come in Fingers courtesy of Captain Birdseye, I was surprised to find myself eating a wrap filled with fish from one of the ugliest specimens I have ever seen, which arrived at the table propped up on sticks as if it was still swimming. The rest stop had lovely gardens, good facilities and a shop attached where I bought a silk fan.

 

Like many private tourers I'm always concerned about being back on board before they raise the gangplank. I always like to complete the faraway stops and add things on when we're near to "home". Due to our early start and no traffic complications we made it back to Saigon early enough to visit Chinatown market, a stop we'd missed the previous day, and still be back on board Insignia with time to spare. Result! (I didn't buy much in the market but you never know what you might see!)