Cape Town to Singapore

[2468Mag]

We join the ship in Singapore. Do you know if Sophie will be the Cruise Director? She was wonderful on our trip to Alaska.

 

 

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[margbem]

Great photos, Roxburgh. Thank you.

 

 

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[Chairsin]

Love the Elephant pic especially!

 

 

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[ab21au]

Love the Elephant pic especially!

 

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Totally agree, great photos.

 

How long a you guys on the ship?

 

I’m very envious looking at the photos.

[Host Dan]

My friend and TA (Cruiser Kit) will be joining the ship in Singapore!

[Roxburgh]

This is our last day in Yangon and it has been pretty intense tourism in a fascinating country. A lot of people went on 'overland' trips while we stayed around. The first night was a little surreal as half the boat was off on tour and all the venues were pretty quiet.

 

Some of the crew also got to do a tour yesterday and they were just leaving the Shwedagon Pagoda as we were arriving.

 

Yesterday afternoon and evening we did the 'Hidden Angles' photography tour which was incredible and we got to see parts of Yangon that many tourists probably don't see. Just 6 of us on that one plus the professional photographer and our guide so very personal. Loads of photos to come from that one when I have had time to process them.

 

As part of that tour we had dinner in Yangon at a very nice restaurant with a variety of local plates. Very tasty and interesting. We arrived back at the ship at around 9.30pm to find the Filipino members of the crew playing basketball on the quayside.

 

Anyway, here is a little taster photo - one of the many fishing boats we saw - which was taken on the sail-in to Yangon:

 

[Chairsin]

So many wonderful options in Myanmar. Hard to make a wrong choice. We made arrangements with a private tour company to fly to Bagan. We had a terrific guide for the three of us, stayed in a luxurious hotel on the Irrawaddy River visited a number of temples at our own pace along with a visit to one of the most diverse and largest markets I have ever been to. And most importantly our tour included a balloon ride. I can’t see why any one would go to Bagan and not do this. It was the highlight of our cruise.

 

 

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[Roxburgh]

Sights of Yangon Part 1

Yesterday we did a photo safari - "Hidden Angles" - of Yangon with professional photographer Kyaw Kyaw Winn (google him for more info).

So this is part 1, the Shwedagon Pagoda, with some of the photos I was happiest with. The pagoda is the principal religious site in Yangon and is mainly frequented by locals. That may change as tourism develops in Myanmar so I think we were lucky to see it before that happens.

ps. All the photos of individuals in this set were taken with their permission. Also note that all my photos are copyrighted in the metadata.

Edited March 12, 2018 by Roxburgh

[Roxburgh]

Part 1- continued .....

Photos of individuals in this set were also taken with their permission.

[Roxburgh]

Yangon - Part 2

There is street food everywhere and the pavement cafes are always crowded. So here are four shots .....

Crushing sugar cane for the juice.

These guys are sitting drinking tea in a litter strewn side street. Notice that one has a bluetooth thing in his ear.

This is later in the evening

[Chairsin]

At the risk of inundating you with photos of Myanmar I’m posting these as well. I have to say I have not met one passenger for whom this port was not the highlight of the trip so I am hoping they are of interest to those who have booked a cruise which includes Myanmar.

 

Here is a woman in the market in Bagan making Thanakha. This a paste made from grinding the wood of the Thanakha tree on a stone slab. Most of the women wear it on their cheeks both for cosmetic reasons and sun protection.

 

In the same market we ran across this adorable child having a breakfast of a traditional noodle and rice soup.

 

We visited a small lacquerware workshop and were fascinated to not only see the 17 layers of lacquer applied over a six month period but equally as fascinating was to watch the craftsmen make the bamboo base for the bowls using strips of bamboo held in place only by notching rather than using glue or any adhesive.

 

When we landed on a sandbank after our balloon ride we came across these two cute little boys in their boat.

 

 

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[Roxburgh]

Yangon - Part 3

And then there are the markets. On day one we were taken to Scotts Market which is where all the tourists go. Not very interesting and I will not bore anyone with the single photo I took there.

But last night we went to the street food market and that was magical. None of these shots were taken using flash. I had the ISO cranked up to 5000 and the f-stop set at 2.8. Shutter speed varied.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[SLSD]

Great photos. All of you seem to be having an exceptionally good time on this cruise. Didn't someone say early in the thread that this itinerary wasn't very interesting? Do I have the right thread? If so, several of you have certainly proved that statement to be wrong.

[Roxburgh]

Yangon - Part 4

 

And my last posting of Yangon photos. These are a number of shots which didn't easily fit into the other categories.

 

Night shot with the Sule Pagoda in the background

 

 

Tobacconist

 

 

Chinese Temple

Edited March 12, 2018 by Roxburgh

[Roxburgh]

Yangon - Part 4 continued ....

Street Vendor

Supreme Court building

Fountain in the central square with the Sule Pagoda in the background

[Horsgrl]

SLSD, there are always people on CC who’s negativity, argumentativeness and nastiness comes through in their posts. I have found, unfortunately, that one must be very careful in the way words are used to avoid being attacked. The purpose of this board is to share information “for the good”, both negative and positive, but there is a way to handle it so people are not insulted.

[DUHCAR]

So many wonderful options in Myanmar. Hard to make a wrong choice. We made arrangements with a private tour company to fly to Bagan.

Chairsin, if you'd recommend them for our cruise next year, could you tell us their name? Was it Tour Mandalay?

Thanks!

[Fletcher]

Burma/Rangoon looks so much more prosperous since our trip there back in 2006.

[SLSD]

Horsgrl, I have noticed what you describe. I will say this---I'm loving these photos and this voyage looks fascinating!

[Horsgrl]

We are doing Singapore-Capetown next year, although a different itinerary (we have more ports in SA) many of these posts have been quite helpful. Sounds like you had a grand trip:cool:

[Mauzac]

Great photos, we did a SB cruise there 3 years ago and loved Myanmar and the highlight for us was Shwedagon at dusk, so atmospheric.

 

However, my photos are nowhere near as good as these :D

[galeforce9]

Really appreciating your photos Chairsin and Roxburgh. I’d love to do this itinerary! Please keep posting when you get chance.

 

 

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[marama]

Chairsin, if you'd recommend them for our cruise next year, could you tell us their name? Was it Tour Mandalay?

Thanks!

 

 

We are just back from our second Myanmar cruise. The first one in 2013 was an Irrawaddy rivercruise and we used Tour Mandalay (who are actually based in Yangon) who did all the bookings within Myanmar for us - flights, hotels and also allocated the 4 of us our own minibus in which they drove us around Yangon. I would certainly recommend them.

[SKP946]

Really enjoying this thread, thank you all for the great photos.

Is anyone staying on after Singapore ?

[koalapanda]

Shwegadon is the temple of all temples. Everywhere you turn is glorious. We visited Myanmar 3 years ago and took so many beautiful photos. Thank you for posting yours, it has had us reminiscing wonderful times. It is a joy to feel the happiness and lovely experiences you have had on this cruise itinerary.