In the evening we went for a dinner river cruise in Bangkok, with dancers and Thai music. Bangkok looks much better at night where you can't see the dirt.... read more

We left Singapore at 6.00 p.m. and the next day, 9thJan was another day at sea before arriving at Koh Samui, Thailand at 8.00 in the morning. I’d heard a lot about Koh Samuii, mainly that it was a beautiful place, so I was looking forward to photographing it. I’d also booked a tour with several other ship guests. We all met off the pier and were driving to a mummified Monk Temple – very dirty streets and tons & tons of motorbikes. When humans are mummified, their skin looks like brown leather. Next we went to a field where they had monkeys on long ropes, who climbed the palm trees and twisted the coconuts until they fell to the ground, then we were all given a drink of coconut milk. Felt very sorry for those ... read more

I’ve been to Singapore several times before so I decided to get myself a Tourist Train pass for the day (their train system is brilliant and dead easy). I'd seen a documentary on how the spectacular Marina Sands Hotel (with an infinity pool on the roof) was built, so I wanted to visit there and photograph it as it has spectacular views.... read more

7th was spent at sea crossing the equator, so the usual Crossing the Equator ceremony with the Captain getting dunked. Then a relaxing day spent reading on my favourite deck.... read more

The following day (Wed, 4 Jan) we were anchored off Tanah Ampo, Bali, Indonesia arriving about 10.00 ish and not leaving until midnight. They put on a nice greeting for the ship with girls dressed in their finery greeting us at the Terminal Building, accompanied by a typical Balinese Band. However, as soon as you were outside of the Terminal you basically ran the gauntlet of being constantly pestered to buy things, kids begging, taxi guys pestering, women selling materials, etc. One woman was so persistent that she followed me up the entire road, pestering for “dollar, dollar” that eventually I said to her, I’ll give you a dollar if you’ll piss off. She understood that alright, as she did. (Cheap at the price but her plan worked). Again it was really hot in Bali, and ... read more