Hambantota, Sri Lanka is on the southern coast of Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka, formerly known as Ceylon and before that a Serendeb, is a teardrop-shaped island nation off the southeastern coast of India. The name Sri Lanka is Sinhalese for Pearl of the Ocean. As with a number of the Southeast Asian countries we have visited on this trip, Sri Lanka has little in the way of a middle class. People are either very poor or are rich enough to have a vehicle and a decent place to live. It can be very tough to be riding on a bus through some of these places and realizing that the cost of your ride represents almost a week’s  or a month’s pay for some of these folks – those who have jobs or shops..

The day in Hambantota was an easy one for Bonnie. She decided to make it a “sea day” and stayed aboard the ship to read, nap, and indulge in female sports (read: the on-board beauty salon). I took a ship’s tour to the sacred city of Kataragama (Cat-are-a-GAM-a).

Our first stop was at the Buddhist Kerilahera Temple. That roughly translates as the Milk Temple because it is painted bright white and can be seen for miles in the relatively flat countryside. It was originally built in about the 3^rd Century and has been destroyed and rebuilt a number of times. There are still traces of the original scattered throughout the current structure. We had to remover our shoes and hats to step into the temple grounds. It was almost 100º out and the stone and sand surfaces were very hot. Several people did not heed the warning to wear socks and had to immediately return to the bus. Fortunately, I am pretty good at following directions and wore wool socks, so I could get right up to the temple.

Our welcoming committee was a troop of black-faced Langur monkeys (and an occasional cow). Our guide is a Buddhist and he was very forthcoming about how he worships and how Buddhists are different from the other eastern religions. He believes that, as do most Buddhists, Buddhism is not so much a religion as a way of life.

After our visit to the Milk Temple we made our way to the Kataragama temple complex. What is so unusual about this particular complex is that it celebrates many religions and faiths. There are Buddhist and Hindu temples on the grounds, along with an Islamic mosque and a Catholic church! Kataragama was another site that began about the 2^nd or 3^rd century and was built and re-built and added to by various kings and conquerors over the years. The original temple of Kataragama honored Shanda, the Hindu god of war. With his six faces and 12 arms, he is believed to be a most benevolent god and is consulted at the onset of new ventures by the faithful. This site is particularly important to the Buddhists as well because it contains a tree that has been growing from a sapling from the Bohdi tree under which Buddha gained enlightenment and is believed to have been planted by the Buddha himself during a visit to Sri Lanka.

The Hindu temple at the Sacred City

The faithful taking a ritual bath in the river prior to entering the temple grounds. Believe it or not, there are crocs in these waters...

The Buddhist temple. Note the "Electric Buddha". We have seen these embellishments on many of the Buddhist temples that we have visited.

The sacred tree.

 All of this visiting took place in broiling sun with no shoes and no hats – but we were permitted to take pictures, flash and all… We then retired to the nearby Mandara Rosen Hotel for a delicious Indian buffet lunch. The buffet contained several of the usual rice and vegetable dishes one might expect from Indian cuisine, but we were also treated to several that were entirely new to me. For instance there was a shredded cabbage and pine nut concoction flavored with cardamom and saffron that had me going for seconds. There was a riata and a potato dish that were prepared slightly differently than I am used to and were simply wonderful. I had an opportunity to taste coconut sambal. If you know sambal, you know it is very spicy (Hot, Hot, hot!). However, combined with the coconut as a condiment, it lent a rather piquant flavor to all of the rice dishes. The coconut really tamed it without dumbing it down.

After lunch and a short nap in the lobby, we rolled into the bus and back to the ship. Tomorrow we are in Colombo and have a full day planned with a train ride to an elephant sanctuary. That should be very interesting.

 

Can you figure out which is the Men's Room and which is the Ladies' Room????

By now you know that I have been captivated by the children in Southeast Asia and Sri Lanka is no exception. This little girl came running out to wave and say hello. She didn't understand English, but she did understand "camera."

Stay tuned…

In Phuket we took part in a hands-on cooking class. The day began with a short ride out to the Blue Elephant Restaurant and Cooking School. The Blue Elephant has branches in a number of cities, the original being in Bangkok.

The Blue Elephant Restaurant and Cooking School is housed on the grounds of the former Governor's home.

We were offered a welcoming drink of some sort of lemony beverage. It was far too sweet for my taste and we noticed that most of the others in our class only took “thank you” sips. There were only 12 of us in the class and we began with a short walk from the school to the market in town. The chef who accompanied us pointed out a number of local delicacies, herbs, and spices. We were familiar with some of these having been to Thai restaurants in the US, but several were new. This was especially true of some of the fruits and produce that are only available locally.

Some scenes at the market.

After the market visit and the trek back to the school – in 97° heat with about 100% humidity, we took a few minutes to cool off and then went into the classroom. This was a pretty standard demonstration classroom with the chef’s station at the front and overhead mirrors to see the detail work. We were to cook four dishes: a soup starter; a salad; a main course; a side dish. The chef demonstrated the preparation of the soup and the side dish and then off we went to the “lab.”

We had expected to be put in teams of two or three and each cook one of the dishes, but we were surprised to find that this was to be a real hands-on class. Everyone would be cooking all four dishes and what you cooked is what you would be eating for lunch. Talk about pressure to perform!!

Cooking school. The entire setup at left, my station in center, and the classroom at right.

We each did our two dishes and everyone marked their own dish with a small paper marker number for each dish. For instance Bonnie and I were at stations six and seven, so each of our dishes had a six or a seven marked on the side with a tag.

After a second demonstration of the other two dishes, it was back to the lab and we prepared the other two. We then were shown to a small private dining room where we were served all of our dishes, still hot, warm or cold as required by the type of dish. WOW! We discovered that we could rally cook Thai.

Yes, we loved it!

The menu consisted of Coconut Milk Soup with Chicken and Coconut Chips, Crispy Golden Purse with Green Curry Prawn and Chicken Stuffing, Spicy Green Mango Salad with Crispy Fish, and Stir-fried Red Curry Chicken and Long Beans. In addition to the food, we were presented with “goody” bags on our way out that contained a Thai Spice Booklet and a couple of the Blue Elephant packaged specialties in a nice tote bag. We had been given Blue elephant aprons at the beginning of the class, but we chose to keep them in their original wrappers and bring them home fresh and clean, so they also went into the goodie bag.

We then had a short ride back to the ship and we are looking forward to our two upcoming sea days to relax and recuperate before our two-day visit to Sri Lanka.

Stay tuned…

Penang, Malaysia is an island. It is connected to the Malaysian mainland by two long bridges, the eight-mile long Penang Bridge, opened a number of years ago, and the just-opened Sultan Abdul Halim Muadzam Shah Bridge an even longer 15-mile structure.

Penang was the first British settlement on the Malay Peninsula (1786) and still contains vestiges of that colonial heritage in many of its shops, buildings, and the street layout. We decide not to take a guided tour and to just look around on our own. Good decision! It was hot and humid and there was a street fair in the main old town just a few blocks from where the ship was docked. Bonnier was in heaven – the fair celebrated the International Day of the Woman. There were food booths, street performers, demonstrations, and beautiful, friendly people. We found it interesting that we both mentioned at about the same time that in the stops we have made in Malaya, all of the people we have met have been so friendly and outgoing. Malaysia was, for us, a newfound treasure and we look forward to returning.

Yes, those are real knives. Talk about a leap of faith...

After working our way through the fair, we went back to the ship to cool off and have bite to eat. We did take the ship’s shuttle into town after lunch to see if we could find a refrigerator magnet, but they dropped us off at a major shopping mall and no magnets.

We boarded the next bus back to the ship and took some down time since we have Phuket, Thailand tomorrow.

Our day in Kuala Lumpur, or "KL" as it is known locally, was a long one. We began with a one-hour bus ride from the pier at Port Klang to the center of the city. Our guide, “Billy,” kept up a constant briefing on the city, its history, the rise of the mega-structures, and how KL hopes to overtake Singapore and Hong Kong as the center of Asia’s commerce. Although it was only about 9:30 AM, the temperature was already approaching 90°! This is the Asian summer and Billy told us they only have two seasons in Malaysia – rain, and more rain.

Once we got into the city, we made our first stop was to see and experience a Hindu Temple. KL has a large Indian population, mostly Hindus who have migrated from southern India. We were fortunate to be there when several of the Hindu priests were assisting worshipers to make the appropriate offerings and prayers to their gods. This particular temple is the oldest in KL and was built in 1881. One of the ceremonies we were able to watch was a young couple trying for their first child making offerings to the fertility god. Someone in our group made a joke about not getting too close. Remember, most of those watching were in their 60's, 70's and 80's – not much fertile ground for the gods…

We then had an opportunity to walk through the main street of KL’s Chinatown. At the end of that stroll, we were treated to the Chinese version of a Buddhist temple. This was even older than the Hindu Temple having been built in 1864.

The Chinese Temple had several rooms for different functions: the Fertility god, the god of Examination (for students), and the god of Beauty, characterized by offerings of lipsticks, powder, and youth-enhancing products.

Our next stop was the Central Market. This was originally a “wet market.” That is, it was for produce, meats, fish, nuts, spices, etc. The wet market has since moved to a new location and the old market was converted to a handicrafts market. Sounds like a flea market to me… Actually, we were surprised by the quality of goods on offer and by the variety. One thing that struck us as odd, and that Billy cleared up, was that there was not stall after stall offering the same dreck. Apparently, to make it attractive to the merchants and to assure quality, the city has assured that no two stalls standing side-by-side offer the same goods. In addition, they only have a limited number of each type of merchandise stall, so you don’t get refrigerator magnet overload. We could have spent a lot more time there. The drawback was simple: how do you get the stuff home?

Next was a stop at the Petronas Towers. The twin monoliths were opened in 1998 to much fanfare as the tallest buildings in the world at 282 meters high (888’). They have since been eclipsed by a number of other much taller structures, but they still shine as the jewels of KL. As part of the tower complex there is a five-story shopping mall with all of the usual suspects, but with the emphasis on very high-end (think Tiffany, Gucci, Prada, Michael Kors, etc.). We had a few minutes to window shop, but we would have personally preferred more time in the handicraft market.

Lunch was at the KL Tower. The KL Tower is a communications antenna almost as tall as the Petronas Towers. It is only 252 meters tall (794’). The kicker is that it was built on a hill that sits about 90 meters (284’) above the Petronas site, therefore it towers over the twin towers (pun intended…). The lunch was something to remember. Eating over 1000’ in the air while overlooking a city like KL, all the while revolving, is simply spectacular. The buffet was a mélange of Indian, Malay, and Chinese dishes. It took several trips for me to fully evaluate just how aptly they interpreted each of those cuisines. By the way, I have become a devout convert to all of the above cuisines, notwithstanding the sloppily simplistic stuff that passes for Chinese and Indian in the US.

A last photo op at Independence Square before heading back to the port gave us an opportunity to see what KL looked like when the British first gained a foothold during the colonial period. This place is called Independence Square because it was where the Malaysian people signed the agreements that ceded their land back to them from Great Britain. The square is surrounded by a number of large former government buildings typical of the British Colonial style (lots of brick, columns, windows, and small embellishments) and is complete with a cricket pitch.

Back to the ship and air conditioning to rest up for yet another meal and another day upcoming in Pedang.

Stay tuned…

Singapore is an amazing place. It is clean, safe, and beautiful. Pick a positive adjective you would use to describe a city and it probably applies to Singapore. 

It was the end of the last leg of our trip and the beginning of our next one. Singapore is one of the last of the city-states in the world and is currently part of Malaysia, although they do not recognize Malaysia as a “government.” Singapore was a British Crown Colony until about 21963 when the Federation of Malaysian States was formed. At that time Singapore joined, but soon seceded and was recognized as independent by Malaysia even though they share the peninsula and command the premium shipping position.

We had an overnight in Singapore. Actually, we got in late – about 7:30 PM – and went ashore to grab a quick local dinner. Wound up in a shopping mall food court, but we had some decent Vietnamese food rather than the usual food court fare.

The following day we caught the Hop On – Hop Off (HOHO) bus and had a city tour. We had never been to Singapore before and after the chaos and craziness of Hong Kong, Saigon, and Bangkok, Singapore seemed almost sedate.

Don’t misunderstand me, Singapore is a vibrant, alive city of over 5.7 million people. It is the cleanest city we have ever been to. Not a scrap of paper, not a piece of plastic anywhere. I suppose that is what you get when the fine for littering is a life sentence…just kidding, but Singapore has some of the strictest behavioral-based laws in the world (Sharia aside). Traffic also moves amazingly smoothly for such a large and densely-packed city. There is also little horn-blowing.

Our HOHO tour took us past most of the major building sights in the city. Singapore has very exciting architecture. It runs the gamut from early British Colonial to ultra-modern skeleton-on-the-outside and buildings that bend. Although we didn't get to visit any of the buildings individually due to time constraints, we have a list for next time.

The Singapore skyline as we approached.

Yes, some of the buildings actually bend!!

Those are part of the cable car system that serves Sentosa Island. They actually go into the building and transfer to the ones coming back out.

This is the Fountain of wealth. The water flows toward the center rather than outward since the Chinese believe that is how wealth should be thought of. It is good Feng Shui.

This is the famous Marina Bay Sands Building(s). The three towers are connected by the "surfboard" on top that houses a skybar, restaurant, and viewing platform. We were told that this complex cos about US$5 billion when it opened in 2010. 

We had a short layover during a bus change, so we opted for a snack at one of the “Hawker” centers. No, not THAT kind of a hawker, but the Singapore version of an open-air food court. While some Asian cities have wandering food carts, and one-off food stands, Singapore has, as might be expected, organized the food sellers into covered and stable food selling areas. We opted for a quick stir-fry and a coke. Not bad and a lot cleaner than we had seen in some of our prior stops.

It was back to the ship early in the afternoon for a 5::00 departure and on to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. We have three more port days in a row: Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Malaysia, and Phuket, Thailand. 

Stay tuned for more adventure.

Bangkok is an amazing place. If I had to describe it in one word, that would be “contrast.” On one had there are skyscrapers, magnificent temples, beautiful public buildings, plenty of shopping – high end and otherwise, squalor in and on the streets, slums, shops packed so close together one cannot tell where one ends and the next begins. I could go on and on, but I think you get the picture. It is colorful and vibrant as well.

The circles on the right are the three temples we visited. The Palace is to the upper right of the right-hand map.

We had a full day the first day as we visited three of Thailand’s most famous Buddhist temples: Wat Po; Wat Suthat; Wat Benchamabophit. We also had a really neat ride on a Tuk Tuk. What’s a Tuk Tuk? It’s a three-wheeled contraption built on a motorcycle chassis and can get up to about 25-30 MPH. It’s namesd for ther noise it makes as it scoots around the city: “Tuk Tuk Tuk Tu-Tu-Tu-kkkkk” or something like that… A Tuk Tuk is capable of making three turns: left turn; right turn; overturn. Fortunately, we only got to experience the first two.

Here we are ready to go on our Tuk Tuk ride. See how calm we are...

Here we are during our Tuk Tuk ride. See how calm we aren't...

Our first visit was to Wat Po, the largest of the three and located in the center of Bangkok. We had to remove our shoes before entering and since it is an active temple, people were coming and going as they worshipped and prayed in their own manner. The Buddha image (not statue or idol, but image) was about 20’ high and set in a magnificent room of gold and jeweled decoration. A lot of the jewels are colored class rather than precious gems, but the effect is wonderful.

We learned even more about Buddhism then we had in Indonesia, Malaya and Hong Kong. Thailand is 96% Buddhist, but their belief system differs from the Chinese Buddhists and most of the other major Buddhist regions. Most other Buddhists believe that if one studies hard enough and finds enlightenment, then they, too, can become a Buddha or a god. The Thai belief is that even if one reaches enlightenment, there was only one Buddha and he cannot be replaced or superseded. Buddhists understand that the Buddha was a man and not a god, but the Thai believers also believe that there can be no equal.

The second temple at Wat Po, houses what is probably one of the most recognizable Buddhist shrines in the world: the 150’ long, 50’ high reclining Buddha. WOW! It was one of the few really breathtaking experiences we have had. Buddhist or not, you can’t help being awed by the magnificence of this image.

After Wat Po, we had our Tuk Tuk ride. Actually, it was a lot of fun and even weaving in and out of traffic on a closed-top, open-air overgrown motorcycle, we never felt afraid or woozy. It was more exhilarating rather than “thrilling.”

Our second visit, Wat Suchat, houses the largest solid bronze Buddha in Southeast Asia. I don’t know what it weighs, but it is so heavy that the bed it is mounted on sags in the middle. Another magnificent illustration of faith.

Finally, we visited Wat Benchamabophit, or as it is known locally, the “Marble Temple.” It is constructed from Carrera marble imported from Italy. King Rama V, who had it built, was fond of visiting Europe and had visited many of the famous museums and art galleries. He was particularly taken with the white marble structures he saw and was determined to have a temple of the same material. Well, it’s good to be king! He got his temple. And what a temple it is. Except for the roof, it is all marble. In addition to the white Carrera marble, the floors and much of the decorative work are also colored marble from other locations around Italy and Europe. The Buddha image is set in a large prayer room backed by a sky-blue drop.

We then had a short bus ride back to the ship. The next day we also had a half-day excursion to see the Grand Palace. The grounds of that palace contain, among many other buildings, Wat Phra Kaew, the home of the Emerald Buddha. It was a hot, sticky day and the crowds moving into the palace grounds didn't help matters. We finally got inside and had a tour of the exteriors of several of the major buildings. The Emerald Buddha is not really a gigantic emerald, but a single piece of jade about 2’ high from which the Buddha has been carved. It is housed in the Wat and no photos are permitted. It sits on an altar and from where we were able to squeeze in, it looked about 6” tall. The entire prayer room was gilt, gems, ivory carvings, and many silver pieces.

We also got to see the king’s throne – another over-the-top exhibit of conspicuous consumption. But that is what is important to the Thai and we were pleased that we at least got to carry the memory in our minds, if not on film.

After we left the palace grounds, we were driven around the city for a short time and then taken to the “Gem Factory.” This was a half-hour shopping stop that was heavy on the sell, especially gems, pearls, gold and silver. There were some exquisite pieces, but it was really not the type of shop that one expects to visit from a cruise ship.

Mercifully, back to the ship with real air conditioning, lunch, and a good shower.

We are now on the way to Singapore. That promises to be a treat. Stay tuned…

We were fortunate that the Silver Whisper is a small ship and could go upriver to dock right in the heart of the city. Most of the larger cruise ships must dock at the mouth of the Saigon River and shuttle their passengers back and forth. The city lies about three to four hours sailing time upriver. That means that most cruise passengers must be bused for at least three hours one way to get in and out of the city.

Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City to some) is a vibrant city on the cusp of becoming a real metropolis. However, the population, currently around 8 million, is still sharply divided between haves and have-nots. For a large city in a communist country, it struck me as very capitalist. You can’t walk or drive more than a few feet before someone wants to sell you something. The other issue with a lot of people is that they are gradually losing a lot of the French colonial architecture to more modern buildings.  

Our visit to Saigon as shortened due to our return from Cambodia and Angkor Wat on the first day of our two-day visit. As mentioned in an earlier post, we just chilled out when we got back at about 1:00 PM. We ate lunch, sorted our laundry, took looooong showers, and napped (one of us slightly sounder than the other…). We did rise in time to go to a dinner and show at a local bar/nightclub and restaurant in downtown Saigon.

Saigon at night is spectacular. Perhaps not as much as Hong Kong, but it seemed that the streets were even busier than in the day time. We were first taken to the rooftop bar of the Majestic Hotel for drinks and a local show of music and dancing peculiar to Vietnam. Unfortunately, I didn't get a lot of pictures and the ones I did get were not all the good.

We were treated to music from a two-stringed violin-like concoction that sounded a little like a cat being dragged back-and-forth through a keyhole. There was also a bamboo contraption consisting of tubes pitched at different notes that was amazingly quite nice to listen to. Finally, a marimba-like instrument made of volcanic lava stones – yes, stones. That stone thing was the most toe-tapping of all. We also saw several dances unique to the Central Highlands of Vietnam that celebrated the rice planting, the rice harvest, the rice meal, and, I think, the rice fertilization process.

 

Greeting the rice harvest on the left and planting the rice on the right.

The violin-like instrument on the left, the bamboo instrument in the center, and the hot rocks on the right.

After the show we boarded mini-vans for one of Mr. Toad’s Wild Rides through the city to a sort-of sleazy alley where several uniformed men we took to be police assisted us into a restaurant. It turns out that the restaurant, the “Mandarine Restaurant”, is one of the better restaurants in Saigon and we were treated to a six-course true Vietnamese meal that was probably one of the best we have had on this trip so far. After dinner we were whisked back to the ship for another really good night’s rest.

The next morning we took a shuttle bus to the center of the city and walked to the Saigon Central Market – a market larger than any we have seen so far. We engaged in a little retail therapy. And came away with a few very nice souvenirs at extremely reasonable prices. On the way back to the ship, we stopped at one of the many custom tailor shops and tried on a few shirts. Bonnie could not find anything she liked, but I found a beautiful light blue silk that I couldn’t resist. The best part was the price. It was handmade in the shop and we spent…oh, oh. I am not permitted to say, except that it was a fraction of what we would expect to pay in the US.

Then back to the ship and on to Bangkok. Stay tuned…