All at sea

Day 32 - 22 July
Wouldn't you know it - lovely sunny day as we head generally north-east towards Alaska.  One thing I noticed in particular is the return of the deep blue Pacific Ocean after the various shades of murkiness over the last couple of weeks.  We have lots of hours to loose before we hit Alaska, but in a new twist, they decided to move the clocks forward at 2.00 this afternoon! rather than overnight.  Really confusing and a by-product of this was that bridge started at 12.00, so no lunch.  Not that I needed it, but pretty unsociable.

Day 33 - 23 July
A little cloudy to start with, but fog rolled in about 10.00, so the sound of the foghorn carried on for a few hours.  We are actually speeding along at 18.7 knots, which is a lot faster than we were doing around Asia.  The bad news from yesterday has just got worse - the clocks go forward at 2.00 pm for the next 6 days.  No one has heard of time changes in the middle of the day before, despite the Captain suggesting that this is being done because passengers were complaining about loosing sleep!! - a bit like daylight saving fading curtains etc.  The reality however is that we do actually miss out on an hour's daytime activity (including lunch).

Great news though, we have another Formal night tonight - just 4 days after the last one.  Marilyn & Ray are coming up for a drink before dinner, although it looks as if it'll be a bit cool to sit outside.  As it turned out, Ray & I sat out, watching the sun set - but yes, it was pretty chilly.

Groundhog Day
Day 34 - 23 July
Yes, our 2nd Saturday 23rd, so we are trying to be better this time around!  The weather has deteriored quite a bit, it is overcast and cold.  The shorts have all but been abandoned for a week or 3 until we return to warmer climes.  One of the beauties of the cruising life is the ability to get through all 4 seasons in just one month.  Bridge has been brought forward to 9.30 as they need the dining room for (yet another) wine tasting - one of the minor gripes about Princess on this cruise is the continual "hard sell". 

Well, although bridge was completed in the morning, it turned out that the wine tasting was abandoned due to lack of interest!   We had arraged to meet for lunch with Rick & Beverley from Snells Beach,  which was great.  Afternoon Tea was with Megan & Colin from Adelaide - bridge players we first met on the Ocean Princess in 2013 and again on last year's WC.  So all in all a bit of a different day after all.

When we put our clocks forward this afternoon we moved to NZ time, albeit a full day behind.  Of course this shows that our observation of crossing the International Date Line is a family - even their own navigational map shows us well west of the line.  One can only assume that there is some greater plan in the mind of Princess, of which we are not aware.  Since afternoon we have been speeding along at just under 19 knots in thick fog, so the foghorn is a constant background noise.

Oh yes, they ran the film "Groundhog Day" on both days.

Day 35 - 24 July
Pretty much the halfway point on the cruise.  Cool, misty/foggy and on we go.  Early bridge as they needed the dining room for the "most travelled passengers" lunch with the Captain.  We certainly are not in that league and probably never will be.  As I have commented in previous blogs, the favoured 40 are the same on each sector - why not mix it up a bit and add some "almost there" passengers? Still wouldn't include us of course.

Day 36 - 25 July
Did not wake up until 9.30, so must have needed the extra sleep (given of course the continual 23 hour days!).  Breakfast was just coffee & muffins in the International Cafe with no lunch due to 12.30 bridge.  There was one of the regular outlet sales on (one every 4 or 5 days - same stuff all the time), and although Vivian was not keen we had a look to fill in time.  She ended up buying a top priced at $43, reduced to $21.99 but actually only paid $8.99. Pity I couldn't find a bargain like that for me...?.

The morning was cold with mist/fog hanging around the ship.  This lifted a little after afternoon tea, so we donned our Kathmandu coats and off we went.  Yes, it was freezing, particularly on the windy side.  We are certainly a lot further north and a bit scary to think how much colder it is likely to be when we reach Alaska. OK, so I was still wearing shorts, despite what I said a couple of days ago.

Captain's Circle Cocktail Party tonight, so given that the limited number who went to the first one raved about how good it was we have decided to go. Well, it was pretty much as anticipated, although we were fortunate in being relatively early and got drink & food without any problem.  All our friends seemed to suffer from the usual lack of waiters.  While it was nice to be greeted by the Captain on arrival, I still fail to understand why the waiters are not the next in line before guests take a seat.  Still, I am just a passenger, so what would I know of such things?

Day 37 - 26 July
Thankfully just 2 more afternoon time adjustments to go.  Officially we move to GMT-9 at 2.00pm but this time zone does not exist either on my phone or the tablets, so we are really in no man's land.

The day is once again dismal and cold - at least the sea is calm and we are still pounding away North to Alaska.  Just another day at sea - while we like sea days, a bit of warmth and sunlight would certainly help.  Temperature is hovering around 11 degrees before taking in the wind chill factor.  It was certainly freezing doing our morning mile, although just now (after the pre-dinner show) we actually have something called sunshine I believe.

Finally the Captain has just made an announcement that we have yet another medical emergency and we have altered our course to get closer to land so that a helicopter can reach the ship and do the evacuation.  It is still up in the air (pun not intended) at this stage, but it is likely to happen early tomorrow morning.

Day 38 - 27 July
Yes, 6.20 and the roar of a US Coastguard helicopter right outside our cabin.  It was all over in just under half an hour and we have resumed our course towards Seward.  They evacuated all the rear staterooms on decks 10 & 11, from after our cabin - so we got to stay, whereas the others had to go to the lounge while the evacuation took place.  Full credit to the pilof and crew as we were maintaining a speed around 13knts throughout.  The ship had actually diverted to the very far western tip of Alaska, near the Aleutian Islands, so we don't know how far the helicopter had to fly to a hospital or other centre.

The sky is still overcast but surprisingly doesn't feel as cold as yesterday.  Our walk was pleasant and although there was no lunch again, at least we have now done our final time adjustment forward (we'll later start a few 25 hour days to compensate).

Day 39 - 28 July
Last sea day.  Yes, it has been a long one, not made any better by the overall bleak weather.  Early bridge as yet another wine tasting this afternoon.  The good news is that we can actually have lunch for a change and met with Margie & Ash, as they are leaving in San Francisco and we have a lot of port days coming up.

The weather continues to remain overcast, but we can see parts of Alaska as we sail along - currently sailing past Kodiak Island, about 300 miles from Seward.  We do not have anything planned for tomorrow, as we've spent time in Alaska previously.  Our biggest event will be negotiating US Homeland Security - although hopefully they may be a little more laid back up here, as they don't get many visitors coming from our direction.

Photos:
View from cabin on Days 33, 34, 35 & 36!
US Coastguard
Our patriotic stateroom

Turning Japanese

Day 29 - 19 July
Hakodate, Hokkaido, Japan
4.15 and it is light outside, not that it is time to get up yet.  We have an even earlier start than usual (6.45), so breakfast upstairs.  Thankfully it was pretty quiet today.  It goes without saying that we did not start our tour until an hour later than planned -due to .....Immigration.  Say no more, but they did us a favour as the early morning showers turned to rain while we waited and by the time we boarded the bus, the showers had pretty well gone.

Once again a half day city tour with the Morning Markets  (which are huge, but a lot of fish, fruit etc.)  The city emblem is the squid and it was amusing to watch young girls line up in some sort of competition to catch a squid from the tank.  It was then taken to the filetting table to be turned into breakfast - talk about fresh....

After the markets, it was up the aerial ropeway (cablecar) to the top of Mt Hakodate. While the peak was partially cloud covered when we started off, it cleared for some great photos of Hakodate.  At the peak we decided to have an ice cream - expensive at just over NZ 6.50 each for a soft serve.  Enjoyable though. 

Returning to base we did a walking tour for about 45 minutes taking us through the old areas of town.  Interesting, 4 major churches are basically adjoining - Buddhist, Catholic, Episcopalian & Russian Orthodox.  All had been reconstructed as much of the town was destroyed by fire some 100 years ago.  We expressed surprise that all the housing is European, but this is partially explained by the above and the influence from UK, US & Russia on the area at that time.  I must say however that the whole town was decidedly scruffy - but perhaps we were spoilt with China.

Back to the ship by midday and a quick bite at the International Cafe before an afternoon rest - don't like  these early starts.  Still have "the" cough, but soldiering on.  We don't sail until  9.30 tonight,  so open sitting again in the MDR.  Heavy clouds are hovering and I don't think that they'll get the spectacular sunset views from Mt Hakodate that many people are hoping for.

Day 30 - 20 July
Last sea day before Tokyo.  Today is Ash's birthday, so we joined with Margit & Jim and Margie & Ash at a separate table in the MDR.  Just like old times from last year!!  Being the last night of the sector we had the "Bombe Alaska" parade, so Ash had a special night & I had dessert for the first time!  All in all it was a busy day, as we actually had the singers & dancers doing a matinee performance and then Ray's ukulele concert, followed by the Princess Choir. After dinner it was the Kiwi connection - Will Martin & Russel Harrison.  Unfortunately the cough has gone to the chest now.  Darn it! 

Day 31 - 21 July
Yokahama (Tokyo)
Arrived earlish, but nothing to see as it was raining - just a little shower to start, but got really heavy by the time we got off the ship.  As this was our second Japanese port, no immigration so we were away by 8.00.  Our tour today was to see Mt Fuji, but as you can imagine THAT did not happen.  Margit & Jim went with us as well.  We visited the Hakone National Park,  which took us 3 hours to reach due to traffic, rain & it being school holidays.  A very interesting drive and as it turned out, we were lucky as most of those who stayed in Yokahama or went into Tokyo got soaked.  Out in the country there were a couple of showers but mainly it was mist and low cloud.

The National Park is a volcanic mountainous area, but we didn't go anywhere near it because "they" thought it may be dangerous for tourists!   We took a different ropeway up to the top of the mountain and had a good view for about a quarter of the way and then disappeared into cloud.  Japanese mountains are more like large hills to us of course.  It was a quick visit to the summit and back down again straight away.  We had time for shopping - well enough to buy a cup of coffee and then we were off to lunch at a nearby hotel.  Perhaps I should explain that the whole area is a tourist mecca, mainly for Japanese and many hotels, apartments etc. are owned by major corporates and offered to their staff for holidays.

Back to lunch - a magnificent hotel with views over the adjoining golf course (& presumably Mt Fuji in good weather ).  The dining room was magnificent and the food and service superb.  The best so far.  After lunch, when the bus left, the whole of the staff, from Chef to waiters & management lined up outside to wave us goodbye. I could almost imagine them crying as a symbol of missing us so much!

Back down to the crater lake and we had a boat ride along the lake, which was good until the mist descended to water level.  The ships were replica Pirate ships,  complete with resident pirate - yes, apart from us, was full of Japanese families.  After that it was another couple of hours back to the ship.  As luck would have it, the weather started to clear once everyone was on board, but that's the way it goes - we've had great weather at all our other ports.

We were scheduled sail at 8.00, but of course had to once again go through the safety lecture at 7.15 first.  Our dinner time was shifted back to 8.00 and obviously many decided to brave the Horizon.  Margit & Jim joined us later and said that they had tried upstairs, but the crowd was just too much for them.  A week at sea ahead of us and I won't comment any more on my health other than to say that the ship's cough is rife at present and I imagine that those who got soaked today are likely to join us.

Squid fishing Hakodate
Mt Hakodate from the shore
View from Mt Hakodate
Old British embassy

Mt Fuji
Mt Fuji as it was!
Shopping at Hakone
Main course
Staff farewell
Lake Hakone
Yokahama port terminal (x2)

From Russia with love

Day 25 - 15 July
Busan, Korea
Another beautiful morning as we entered into the port just after 6.00am.  Actually nice to see some clear skies for a change, as we are on the southeastern part of the Korean peninsula and further away from the smog of the Chinese mainland.  Breakfast on the balcony was very good,  before lineup for our tour at 7.30.  This time we went with Margit & Jim to (yet another) temple - although this one was unusual in that it was on the coast.  After the temple,  the APEC building, site of the 2005 leaders meeting (Helen was PM then) and then back to town for the markets. We elected to jump off the tour and make our own way back on the free shuttle.

Busan is quite different to Seoul and has a lot more traditional areas, but it is also the major port and has undergone massive development since the war.  A lot of really new infrastructure, including a magnificent bridge over the harbour, was evident.  The bridge was just 6 months old and at the same time a new International Passenger Cruise Ship Terminal was built more or less in the centre of town.   But ooops,  even our ship can not fit under the bridge! so we were berthed at the old terminal, adjacent to the military coast guard & Police.  Interesting to watch their training, including filling inflatables with fully fitted out police in riot gear, including shields.

But I digress.  The tour was great and it was good to see some coastline for a change.  The beaches looked good & golden but we didn't actually get to the beach!  I mentioned the big bridge before, we'll there is actually a spiral road to join up with the bridge proper and the bridge is totally curved.  Spectacular.  Another bridge we crossed is a double-decker,  which works very well.  After China, we felt that Busan was not as clean and well kept, but clearly the population are generally wealthy.

Our final stop in Busan was the fish market, which is the size of at least 2 rugby fields, with every kind of fish etc. imaginable.  They are all alive of course, so we saw crayfish trying to escape, as were squid & octopus.  We all wondered how long the fish were kept in the various tanks  as I can't imagine the whole lot would be sold in 1 day.  Next door was the "Aunt's Market", where the women sell the "dead" fish & seafood.  Not as big, but seemed to be doing a bigger trade.

Back on board we had a quick lunch at the International Cafe and back to the stateroom.  We were fortunate that the ship was berthed on the port side, so we had a great view of the comings and goings.  This is the only port so far to put on a concert for us.  There were traditional performers along with a singer, modern violinists & gogo dancers.  They went on for almost 2 hours, mainly because just as we were about to leave yet another ambulance turned up to evacuate yet another passenger. 

Day 26 - 16 July
What a difference a day makes.  It is cold.  The sky is grey with a slight swell as we progress up the Sea of Japan, with North Korea on our port side.  Unsurprisingly we had no TV channels working this morning, but they seem to have come back now.  Apart from loosing yet another hour overnight, I have (during the day) developed a runny nose, which I trust will not progress to anything else.  Having said that, there are many people on board who should not be in public with their coughing & sneezing.  The dreaded "ship cough"!

Day 27 - 17 July
Vladivostok
We were already berthed when we got up at 5.45.  It was a bit overcast and comparatively cold, probably 16 odd degrees.  We are berthed at the magnificent cruise terminal just opposite the railway station - which boasts the start (or end) of the Trans Siberian Railroad).  Clearly, cruise ships are a novelty as I was amazed how many people were out posing for photos with the ship in the background at 6.15 am.  We breakfasted on our balcony and enjoyed the short welcoming entertainment at 7.00.

While we were due to queue up for our tour at 7.30, we had to wait for our passports to be delivered after having been stamped by Russian immigration.  As a result we were all about 20 minutes late.  Immigration/Russian security still required to sight of stamped passports on leaving and re-entering the ship - no humour & no English!

To our delight, we had 2 young Russian girls in their early 20s as our guides and they spoke perfect English,  which was a relief after some of our other guides.  The tour was a half day city tour and gave us a good oversight.  Certainly not what I had expected and was surprised to hear that the Vladivostokienes had 2 to 3 cars per family.  Fortunately it was Sunday, so we did not see any congestion.  We did visit one Russian Orthodox church, which was full and found out that the Russian authorities were promoting religion, particularly amongst the young.  When we were then told that the Mass was a 3 hour affair and that there is no seating, I can understand. Other highlights were the museum, town square, panoramic views, yet another enormous new bridge & the tour through the WW2 submarine!

As the day progressed, the weather improved dramatically and by mid afternoon the temperature was in the high 20s.  Apparently just a couple of days before they had torrential rain & cyclone.  As well as our ship's passengers,  there were also 4,000 Chinese in town.  It is less than 2 hours from China and they come not only for holiday, but to buy gold!!  The end result for us was congestion at the main touristy centres.  After lunch we went back and wandered on our own, visiting the railway station,  which is a grand affair,  and the shopping mall - mainly clothes & cosmetics  (like NZ).  To enter any part of the railway station,  we had to pass through scanners and guards were stationed at the exits.  Of course Vladivostok is still a major military base and lots of soldiers & sailors about.

Once again we had a great send-off from the folk, who had lined up pretty well all day.  There were young, old, families, groups and individuals in their hundreds and we were surprised that they stayed even after the sun went down  (as we were an hour late in leaving).  The ship had entertained a large number of dignitaries and travel executives, presumably to promote the company.  They certainly seemed to be enjoying the free food etc.  Also all the "stereotypical" police/security women, were relishing the selfies in the luxury of the Atrium.  I must admit that had not been aware how many officials were on board until they all took their leave, with police etc forming a column of three and marching along the wharf. But apparently we left one crew member behind, which is why we were late leaving. 

If anyone is at all interested, my physical wellbeing has slightly improved, so fingers crossed.  An early night again is on order.

Day 28 - 18 July
Back to murky weather as we cross the Sea of Japan.  Quite cold outside, so I sent Vivian out to do my walk for me.  Well, I didn't think that it was worth risking freshening up anything, particularly with tomorrow being a port day.

Tonight is once again Formal Night, the last one before Tokyo, which is the end of the sector.  And of course after that port it is the end of Asia as we then have almost a week to reach Alaska.  But not yet, tomorrow is Hakodate, and surprisingly an even earlier start of 6.45am.  Yes, I am really going to enjoy those upcoming sea days.

Photos
Busan bridge
Coastal temple (2)
APEC building & view
The beach
Fish market
Escaping crayfish!
"Aunt's market"
Sail away from Busan

Orthodox church
Viewing platform
View from above
Submarine interior (with our guides)
Through the hatch!
Exterior
Railway station
Station from our stateroom
Patriotic sail away from Vladivostok

2 days in Beijing

Day 21 - 11 July
Well here we are at last. As far as I know, we berthed just after 4.00am, so when we surfaced about 6.00 we were all tied up.  Unfortunately there was little to see from our side of the ship, other than numerous ship's of all shapes and sizes appearing out out the mist/fog/smog (take your pick).  My money is on the latter, as there was a smell or taste in the air, so we didn't have breakfast on the balcony.

Our reporting time was 7.30 and there were no issues this time and in no time we were off the ship and going through Immigration, which was a  breeze.  Once again we were travelling with Marilyn & Ray. We are going into Beijing to see the Summer Palace & Lama Temple although we'd have loved to have gone to the Forbidden City but it is closed on Mondays!  Plus we already have a tour to the Great Wall tomorrow.

We are berthed at Tianjin Cruise Ship Terminal, which apart from anything else is over an hour from Tianjin and 3 hours from Beijing.  Well, what a surprise, the terminal is huge and very spacious and modern and the drive for the first part was through the new industrial, residential area.  The infrastructure is impressive, with 6 lane roads built in all directions (some were barricaded off, as the area had not yet been developed apart from roading). In other parts there were multistoried office blocks and new apartments up to 25 stories.

All the way into Beijing we were hugely impressed with the cleanliness of the roadside (all the roads were being washed by machines and also by hand in places).  The other thing noticeable were all the trees & gardens.  All the way, the central berms on the motorways had gardens and well trimmed hedging - a lot of work required to maintain these.  Yes, there were some massive industrial areas, but the buildings were mostly new and huge.  Housing areas (& there were plenty) were generally smaller apartment blocks, but also 4 or 5 storied buildings and also many "up and downs", which was amazing.  Not the same intensification as we saw in Seoul.

Tianjin has really been recently developed and the area around the port I referred to earlier is mainly on recently reclaimed land (over the last 5 years) and it is a special Free Trade area.  We sped along and at the same time noticed yet  more areas being developed, both for industry, but also for aquaculture.   Further out, about an hour from the ship, the land was very much used for aquaculture,  with ponds being managed by individual farmers in more primitive conditions.  Of course where ever there was land, this was producing crops or vegetables - as well as yet more trees!

The roading all the way is also impressive, with literally hundreds of new roads, sorry, motorways heading off in all directions and bridges spiralling overhead.  This went on and on.  The roads are all toll roads,  so we stopped a number of times to pay our toll in cash!.  A couple of other observations, the motorways mainly had a 120 kph limit, but the good thing was that each lane (4 lanes mainly) had a minimum speed as well, to keep traffic flowing.  The motorways were devoid of Police BUT every kilometre there was a Police camera, flashing red & blue, on the median which records any transgressions.  These cameras are also present at all tollbooths and I later noted also on minor roads.  As if this is not enough,  we also came across a Police Checkpoint,  where they were checking everyone coming into Beijing.  I am sure that indirectly we are recorded in their database!

Although we did not get into the centre of Beijing, we went through and around ring roads #6, 5, 4 & 3.  Still lovely gardens along the berms and medians - lots of rosebeds,  so plenty of work required to keep them pristine.  We were surprised now few people were about.  I mean there were plenty of people,  but for a city of over 25 million, it was less crowded than Auckland.  AND the people were better dressed, clean and happy.  The cars we saw were mainly Audi's & WV's along with a smattering of usual Japanese cars.  Dealerships for Jaguars & Rovers abounded but surprisingly all the taxis were Hyundai Elantra's!

The Summer Palace was great, but crowded even on a Monday.  The board at the entrance showed that there were over 42,800 visitors in the grounds (@ 11.00).  The Palace itself is more of a summer retreat for the Emporer, set in 290 hectares of land and water.  It has the largest man made lake and while we walked a little way along the shore, under shade trees, we actually had a boat ride back to our starting point.  Now did I say it was crowded? 45,000 mainly Chinese family members is an average and our small group of some 100 attracted some interest,  particularly amongst the children.

It was then time to go to lunch, which was a fair drive away.  When we arrived (all 4 buses) we were seated in a luxurious Chinese Restaurant and served a delicious meal, along with beer, sprite, coke, green tea, water...  A 200% improvement on the Korean experience.  Everyone was very happy (& that's saying something). 

It was then on to the Lama Temple.   As an aside, I heard a woman at breakfast say that she had thought she was going to see wooly animals!!  No animals, but the lamasery was built in 1694 and became a Tibetan temple in 1744.  It is set in the the 2nd ring road area, so is very built up.  It also contains the largest wooden Buddah made from a single tree, standing at 28 metres.  Very impressive, but with some 20 plus buildings/temples burning insence and getting late in the day, we retreated to the bus - as did most others.

By 5.00pm, it seemed like a good idea to head back to the ship.......... yes, there was a lot of traffic.  The drivers are generally polite and of course might is right, so it was only just over an hour to clear the city and retrace our steps on the motorway home.  Forgot to mention that the weather was hot and generally clear (by definition ) in Beijing but smog/fog/mist descended closer to home.  We eventually made it back to the ship just after 8.00, which was just as well, as the Authorities had imposed a 9.00pm curfew.   A throughly enjoyable day, even if it was a full 12 hour trip.  Tomorrow is another day, with a 6.30 Muster.

Day 22 - 12 July
The Wall.  OK, this is silly, up at 4.45!  Breakfast in the HC (it lived up to its HZ name however).  As someone commented, we all crept out of our staterooms to avoid disturbing others, only to find that the whole darned ship was up there for breakfast at 5.15!!  On a positive note I'll say no more.

Because we'd done immigration yesterday,  it was all too simple to settle down on our bus for yet another 3 hour journey to visit the Wall at Huangyaguan, which is north of Beijing.   The difference this time is that we turned off the main motorway after about an hour and headed north.  This meant that we got to see far more of the rural aspects, which were very interesting.  As we progreessd, there was less housing, although it was clear that many of the old buildings were being demolished to make way for either new apartments, or retained for other purposes.

Eventually we turned off yet again onto a "B" or possibly a "C" road and took to the hills.  The road was very windy and narrow, but that didn't stop our driver overtaking everything in front while driving on the wrong side of the road.  I should mention that we were part of a convoy of about 24 buses - 800 of us went to the Wall that day.  The sights up there were so different to our drive to Beijing, as this is part of the rural heartland which is stuck in a time-warp.  Ancient tractors of all shapes and sizes, peasant farmers and farmers markets abounded.  I did have to wonder whether the extensive tree planting in this area was also to screen the less desirable areas from the public road.  Long dirt roads, over a kilometre appeared to lead to more basic buildings and once again there was a general lack of population about - apart from the markets.  The small villages/towns we drove through were filled with all variety of shops, including restaurants,  dress shops, mechanical repairs (very popular), clothing factories with dozens of machinists and I am sure that in the back streets there were all sorts of other activities going on - all in far rural China.

We arrived at the Wall and it was both a blessing & a curse that the weather was overcast  (mist, fog, smog whatever), so it was pleasant to climb the wall but not too good for photos.  We did remarkably well if I say so myself as we achieved (almost) the top of the restored section - from thereon I gather that it was loose stone and quite dangerous.  Of course we had a time to be back, so worked out that it wasn't really possible to do much more.  The thing is that in some places the steps were small and then sections where they were huge.  Everyone was soaked in perspiration by the time we got back to the bus.  Also, some spits of rain on the way down, thankfully not enough to make the steps dangerous.  A great experience and so pleased that we can mark off another "wonder of the world".

Back to a local restaurant about half an hour away.  The lunch was OK  but no where near the feast of yesterday.  After lunch it was a reverse trip of the morning journey and once again our driver wanted to prove that racing cars were his preferred vehicle.  We came across an accident on the motorway & they had put out just one red cone to warn of this - not like NZ where the whole motorway would have been closed!  The same applied to the workers and gardeners working on the median - no trucks, flashing lights etc.  just working away ignoring traffic.

We made it back to the ship about 4.30 and although it was open sitting for dinner, we went down at the usual time.  I must admit however that it was bed straight afterwards.

Day 23 - 13 July
Ouch, what happened to my legs!  Certainly used some muscles yesterday and I am feeling it today.  To make matters worse, they stole an hour off us overnight as well.  Suffice to say that it has been a quiet day at sea.  Tomorrow is also a sea day, so should be fully fit for Busan on Friday,

Day 24 - 14 July
Another sea day and woke up to sun streaming into the stateroom.  After breakfast it was back to pounding the deck.   We are heading south east around the bottom of Korea and there is quite a side-swell, making the ship move a bit - the first time in a long time.  Just on lunchtime we made an unscheduled stop at Jeju Island (where we had been scheduled to visit last Sunday), as we had yet another medical evacuation.   This was completed at sea by inflatable and Police boats in attendance.  We could see why we were unable to berth here and are carrying on to Busan as there were 2 cruise ships in port and 2 more waiting to berth - very popular place obviously.  Sad that so many have had to leave the ship on this cruise,  apart from the other evacuation out of Sydney, a few got off in HK (one unfortunately had died just before we got in) and we are aware of at least another couple being disembarked tomorrow in Busan. 

Tonight is Formal once again, but with another early start tomorrow, Busan, Korea.  But that'll be another story.

Photos:
View from cabin
New development area by port
Roading
2 photos of Summer Palace
Beijing city area
Lunch (yum)
Gardens
Lama Temple
Central median garden
Outer Beijing
3 at the Wall

Land at last - Seoul

Day 19 - 9 July
We arrive at  Incheon, which is about 1.5 hours drive from Seoul.  Incheon has the port and airport and is effectively the gateway to South Korea (you certainly can't drive onto the peninsula! !).  It was very overcast when we arrived at around 6.00am.  It is still hazy here as we set sail around 6.00pm.  The sky was clearer inland around the Capital.

So the day started very early again, but this time breakfast did not arrive until almost 7.00,  which meant bolting it down as we had to do Korean immigration at 7.30.  Big mistake - everyone lined up earlier than us and the end of the queue was greater than the length of the ship.  The positive side was that we did our 1 mile walk without going outside.

Our trip into Seoul was very interesting and our guide did not hold back on the dislike of both North Korea, nor in particular the Japanese.  The history of Japanese aggression and destruction of the Korean dynasty is still raw.  We were with Marilyn & Ray and Ray had spent a year in Korea, some 40 years ago - he struggled to remember things as they were.

A couple of things struck me in particular,  the general cleanliness and the infrastructure.  Considering the desolation of the country after both Japan & the Korean War,  they have made huge progress.  The block upon block upon block........ of new apartments is nothing short of incredible, and they are still being constructed in new mini-cities all along the highway and no doubt in other places.  But intriguingly, in the few areas not yet given over to high rise,  but literally within metres, agriculture, mainly small holdings, take up every spare bit of land.

Our tour included the reconstructed Emperial Palace, National Folk Museum & replica of historic village all before lunch - was the most rushed experience and was tiring, without being able to take it all in.  To be fair however, it was a beautifully fine Saturday and the locals were out and about in droves.  The only comment I would make is that all the villages and palaces were devoid of gardens or any greenery, so was most austere. But certainly the building decorations were magnificent.  Lunch however was a disaster (not that we really needed food).  It was supposed to be a traditional Korean BBQ, but the problem was that the same restaurant catered for ALL the Tours  (about 600 of us).  We were in the second, or last of the groups to get there, so I am pretty sure that we got the "left overs", so much so that they even forgot to give us rice! but between chopsticks & lettuce leaves we survived. Anyway, we were hurried out of there after 15 minutes and back on the bus.

The afternoon, while not traditional, was really interesting as we stopped at a South Gate Market, which apparently has over 1000 shops, stalls & street vendors.  While we saw just a small portion, it is clearly very very popular with (mainly) young Koreans.  Plenty of bargains, but we were once again on a tight time frame,  so no shopping apart from an eyebrow pencil for Vivian  (just in case there is any doubt).   From here on we headed south towards Incheon. 

We thought that the tour was over as we approached the port but we diverted to the new E-City in Incheon.  This is all new, built around masses of high rise  (40-50 stories +) buildings.  Much of the land is reclaimed and there seems to be no end to the development.  The shopping centre we visited was in the "Summer" wing, with other wings (buildings) for the other seasons.  All very modern with a distinctive European flavor - apparently someone tried to handle a Prada handbag and was told not to in no uncertain terms.  Waterways flowed through the shopping centres and there was plenty of seating all around (unlike the International Cafe on board ).  Once again, not enough time to do any shopping,  but was really interesting to see this modern development.  Many tourists, conventions and universities are located in the surrounding area.  Oh, and free fast wifi!

On balance, a most interesting day and certainly an experience not to be forgotten. 

Day 20 - 10 July
Thankfully we were given back our 1 hour overnight  (albeit for just 3 or 4 days) so had a leisurely day on board.  We need to ensure that our batteries (of all sorts) are fully charged as we have an 11 hour tour to Beijing tomorrow,  followed by a 9 hour one to the Wall on Tuesday.

The sea is once again like a millpond but the sea (s)fog is keeping the sun at bay.  The water is dark black and is so calm that a solitary dolphin has just broken the water about 10 metres away.  Surprisingly  I can now make out a container ship, just a couple of hundred metres away, appearing out of the gloom.  Thank goodness for radar.

Photos:
1. Gardening in the city
2. Paddy Field in middle of roundabout
3. Forming 3 straight lines as instructed for counting purposes
4. Palace
5. Girls in costume
6. Palace gate
7. Teddy store - 3 floors of bear inspiration
8. Queue for having photo as above
9. Our lunch !
10 - 12. Incheon Mall & some buildings
13. Party bus - look at those lights!