Raina’s blogging. Ovation HK to Syd Nov 2017

[AussieVisi2r]

16th November 2017.

Nha Trang, Vietnam.

Along the way we could see some of the damage caused by the typhoon a few weeks ago. Mainly it was huge amounts of vegetation piles up and ginormous tree root balls lying on their sides.

This area doesn't usually get hit by typhoons so much damage was done. But they were underway with repairs and very open for business and in need of the tourist dollars.

100 Eggs is a resort set in a banana forest. So lush and green. It is agimmicky way to enjoy the the famous mud. It's a salty mineral rich mud that ismeant to have many wonderful qualities. Probably the hosing downs from thelocal dairy - but oh well. It was fun and felt good.

 

 

You went to a good bathroom block with lockers and changed into your swim wear or theirs. The walk around the place was a bit strrp and on paths made of large river ricks. A bit tricky in bare feet. Flip flops would have been great.

First was a soak in a tub of mineral rich mud. About the consistency of yogurt. Hot and slimy. Your only allowed 20 minutes in the pod as you might cook I guess. The pods are - you guessed it - like eggs.

After you get out you hose down.

 

 

[AussieVisi2r]

16th November 2017.

Nha Trang, Vietnam.

 

After the hose down you then go to the fantastic showers. FUN.

Giant showers.

Walk through showers.

All kinds of showers.

The back up another windy rocky path to the mineral water soak. A soak in giant cups of tea. More pods filled with hot water. The guys comes and adds the tea - Lemon Grass, Ginger and Lime. Again the water is mineral rich.

So another 20 minute soak.

And off to the other pools.

A large swimming pool of mineral water. A huge spa with jets and a pool with a waterfall.

And off for a massage. A one hour oil mssage followed by a plate of local fruit and tea. Lovely.

$50 US each! Bonus.

Our taxi had waited and off we went back to the dock.

[AussieVisi2r]

16th November 2017.

Nha Trang, Vietnam.

 

 

 

[JamesEM]

Thanks for posting..........

[bvm49]

We love reading your adventures and it has been very helpful as we board the ship tomorrow.

[AussieVisi2r]

17th November 2017

The Mekong Delta.

A ship’s tour to The Mekong Delta.

Home of much the Vietnam war. And the end of the Mekong River. It’s a classic delta with the huge fan covering 40,500 square kilometres. It's the 'rice bowl of Vietnam" and is abiological wonder with over 1000 animal species.

The Mekong starts in China and flows through 6 countries. Pretty amazing. It must have some stories to tell.

 

I could go nuts withthe photos here - but will show some restraint! LOL.

We headed off bright and early on a great drive.

The country was beautiful. Rice paddies. Rivers with fishing villages. Duck farms.

 

An hour and a half to Saigon then that distance again to the south west - after the one hour through Siagon.

 

The Lotus farms were stunning.

[AussieVisi2r]

17th November 2017

The Mekong Delta.

Sorry for the delays. I'm having trouble with the site crashing.

An hour and a half to Saigon then that distance again to the south west.

Saigon. Was fascinating as always.

9 million people. 1 million cars and 12 million scooters. And they were all out on the road.

Fantastic. Carrying 4 people. Ladders. Giant piles of boxes. 4 chaff sized sacks. One had 6 bags of rice .

 

Helmets were made compulsory recently. The average wages is around $400US a month. The real helmets are around $30. People could not afford them so they bought the $2 ones. Not so good.

After much pressure a deal was struck with the govt and the manufacturer. They are now $10 from govt, and $10 from rider and $10 reduction in price from the manufacturer. Plus they must surrender the $2 helmet.

They are brilliant riders. The scooters flow like water, just splitting and going around things ie pedestrians, broken vehicles Etc. then reforming on the other side.

It is not unlike a Ballet. Beautiful. Smooth and calm.

Of course the locals want fair skin so the ladies are dressed beautifully. Stockings, long skirts, arm sleeve socks, hats gloves and face mask. Many of them sit side saddle.

[AussieVisi2r]

17th November 2017

The Mekong Delta.

Then back out into the country.

Many of the rice fields have a number of graves in them. Apparently - when many of the young ones wanted to go and live in Saigon they would sell the family plot when they inherited. Many would fail in the big city and come back to the country with nothing. So many parents willed that they would be buried right in the middle of the family rice paddies.

No one will buy a block of land with graves in the middle! So, no selling of the family plot. Instead they could go to the city to try their luck but still had the land when they came back.

[JamesEM]

Why are so many of the folks wearing masks?

[AussieVisi2r]

Why are so many of the folks wearing masks?

 

Pollution is really bad in the city. And sun. They are very serious about keeping their skin soft and pale.

[AussieVisi2r]

17th November 2017

The Mekong Delta.

We went to the Mekong river and boarded our motorized boat for 30 min jaunt over to Thoi Son (Unicorn) Island. Which means happiness as we were told once or 300 times. Even many renditions of “if you happy and you know is it .....”.

 

The river is pretty gross in close to shore. A floating rubbish tip including a large dead dog near our boat. And so much plastic. We all must reduce our use of plastic if we want the oceans to survive.

You cannot imagine how much there was.

But out deeper it was lovely. Brown water with lots of vegetations.

The all kinds of business. Boating. Fishing. Houseboats. Fish farms.

 

[direptor]

Is Wonderland onboard Ovation current Wonderland or Dadong Wonderland (chinese restaurant)? If it is Dadong Wonderland, can you help to check if the Ultimate Dining Package includes it or is just discounted similar to Chef Table. Thanks.

[AussieVisi2r]

Is Wonderland onboard Ovation current Wonderland or Dadong Wonderland (chinese restaurant)? If it is Dadong Wonderland, can you help to check if the Ultimate Dining Package includes it or is just discounted similar to Chef Table. Thanks.

 

It changed back to Wonderland yesterday. So up and running. DaDong wouldn’t stay on as he couldn’t guarantee the source of ducks that he wanted.

 

And YES the drink package works in Wonderland. It does not have drinks included.

[AussieVisi2r]

17th November 2017

The Mekong Delta.

 

We landed on the island and went to a honey farm. 'Played with' the sweet little bees (similar to Australian Native Bees - with no stings).

Drank honey tea, ate Royal jelly and pollen and dried fruits.

Peanut honey brittle The plater of fruit we ate is for happiness.

 

The walk down the river was lovely. Orchids.

Banana flower.

Coconut shells drying for fire fuel.

[AussieVisi2r]

17th November 2017

The Mekong Delta.

 

Then off to another stop where we are fresh fruit. Jack fruit is actually excellent. A bit like banana mango. And pineapple they you dip in chilli salt. Again excellent.

Local sang us the music from Sth Vietnam – including “If your happy and you……”.

Still a lot of French influence in Vietnam.

And of course no matter where you go in the world, always the scraggly chickens.

[AussieVisi2r]

17th November 2017

The Mekong Delta.

Then down to a man made canal for a ride in a small sampan. A super unstable boat. Flat bottomed canoe. Long and thin. Much fun.

We snaked along the narrow way that had been cut through the vegetation. Fantastic.

They certainly were the wobblyest craft I have ever been in.

And then the rain started. Drips were like grapes. Huge. It drenched us. And looked and sounded fantastic. Wonderful.

We got out in the torrential rain and got back to the next stop.

Some of the group were very cross with Royal. Lol. “They should have organised it better. You could see it was going to rain”. But none of us melted, or even dissolved, so all was good.

[AussieVisi2r]

17th November 2017

The Mekong Delta.

 

We stopped at a coconut candy factory and watch the coconuts get husked, split, shredded, pressed then mixed with sugar and spun over heat for an hour before being turned into lollies.

It was a bit scary watching the guy stick his hands into the coconut grinding machine.

 

Really, really nice. Super chewy and tasty. Like an old fashioned caramel.

 

Then back into out “big” boat for the trip back. Now we were under a roof the rain cleared and the sun came out.

We passed the beautiful bridge - built by Australia - joining Veitnam and Cambodia.

The guide sang “if your happy” a few more times.

[AussieVisi2r]

17th November 2017

The Mekong Delta.

 

It was then off for lunch. I was dreading lunch. You know the tour lunch at a swanky resort with token local food that you always get? I decided that today I would look at the food and, if the usual, would go for a wander and forgo the lunch.

But surprise surprise. It was fantastic.

Roll your own rice paper rolls. A fish where the fish was served whole and was wonderful.

Sticky rice balls. Like balloons that they then cut up into little pieces.

Prawns. Hot pot. Desert was lotus seeds in a sweet sauce. Could have been chick peas in sweet sauce. You probably wouldn’t order it but do to eat.

The resort was fairly attractive too.

[AussieVisi2r]

17th November 2017

The Mekong Delta.

Then the trip home. Over three hours.

LONG – but many things to see on the way.

Awesome country. Amazing sights.

Back through Saigon at peak hour. After a huge rain storm.

It was a great day. We were late back. It would have been a horrible trip if it was a private tour. You would have been having a heart attack all the way back and unable to enjoy the scenery - too busy looking at your watch.

 

Sometimes a ship tour is worth every cent.

[AussieVisi2r]

17th November 2017

A Sea day - YAY.

Went to lunch at the Solarium Bistro. It's in the pool area of Solarium. It is basically a mimi Windjammer. Food was good and much smaller and quieter. At night it's booking place. They do a Mediterranean night, but may often not be full as we have had a few invitations to eat there. So could be a good option for busy nights. Everyone who ate at the Mediterranean nights said the food was great.

 

 

It was a lovely atmosphere.

I also called past the Kung Foo Panda - the noodle house. It is remaining on board for the Austalian season - and therefore the Alaska season.

Looks really nice I shall be eating there.

[JamesEM]

Thanks for posting, Nam is the only place that I know of that has so many different kinds of rain, it even rains up.

[AussieVisi2r]

17th November 2017

A Sea day - YAY.

C&A Event in 270 Degrees. This room cost 33 Million US to build.

STATS - 1590 members on board. 192 D, 71 D Plus and 11 Pinnacles.

We had an 'exclusive showing' of Leonardo's Dream. Which is excellent. But maybe not so exclusive as I first saw it exactly 12 months ago on Anthem. LOL









It is a great show.

And then it was off to DaDong for dinner.

DoDong is a chef from Bejing who is famous for his inovation with Peaking duck. He is a two Hatted Michelin Chef. His Bejing restraunt is listed in the book 1,000 Places to See before you die.

Royal convinced him to set up on the ship in Wonderland for the season. It's a degustation menu and is $70. 10 courses.

It goes off the ship at the end of this leg. DaDong refuses to run the restaurant without his supply of ducks. He set up his own breeding program to have them raised the way he wants. As his ducks cannot be delivered to Sydney fresh (and stored without freezing) between turn around days.

 

Intense. So restaurant change over on change over day.

 

Much of the decor has remained as Wonderland so it will not take long - and many of the utensils are repurposed - many you will recognise.









 

[AussieVisi2r]

17th November 2017

A Sea day - YAY.

DaDong Restaurant

 

1 Clam / Pippies. Fantastic. So tasty and a great chewy texture - but not tough.

2 Crested Wheatgrass. It's a water plant and a bit like a succulent. Thick and full of water. I loved it.

3 Smoked Salmon. Fresh smoked.

4 Truffle Cuttlefish Soup. Also delicious.

[AussieVisi2r]

17th November 2017

A Sea day - YAY.

DaDong Restaurant

Lobster

Sautéed Beef Ribs. YES the red bits are chilli. Crispy fried whole chilli. The dish sounded amazing. Like little plastic pieces that rattled. But very hot. The meat was great though.

Eggplant. Now I must state here that I HATE eggplant - with a passion. The texture is disgusting. Hate Hate! Hahahahah. BUT I will admit that this was delicious. I ate it all. Looks revolting though. LOL

The famous Roast Duck. Duck Pancakes. The host made our pancakes - using chopsticks. Rolled the pancake case and all with chopsticks. And the duck was amazing. So crisp!!!

Noodle and beef soup.

White Chocolate desert. See the tiny shells -they all had a different taste. Lemon, Chilli, Cinnamon etc. Again Delicious!

It realy was a great night. All the fun adn drama of Wonderland and amazing food. And much easier then trying to get a booking in Beijing.

Happy I went!

[JamesEM]

Thanks for posting, interesting but not my thing, I'm a beef and taters kind of guy.