Blogs from Oceans and Seas - page 81

When we arrived into Mandalay from Bangkok, its tiny airport reminded me a little of Regina's airport years ago, before any of its renovations. Hot, dusty, dry, and impoverished, the city itself felt a little desolate, at least at first, before we rented bicycles and toured around. When we did, we noticed immediately the vibrancy of its people, particularly when we went through the market areas. Without a doubt, a favorite memory for us will be the "music caravan" experience. The music caravan consisted of three trolleys of very old school stereo music equipment - huge speakers, CD players, microphones, and such - which were being pushed through the streets by at least a half dozen men. One of the men - the singer - was singing a Burmese tune in Kareoke style - to a ... read more

Aw...gotta love the day at sea. Truthfully, we did not have cheeseburgers the entire time...I guess I thought it would be a cuter title than "Day Two" ... then again I guess I could quote another Jimmy Buffet song "It's 5'Oclock somewhere" as a catchy, yet, cliche title. Anyway, I did not realize until we had gotten back that I did not take any aerial view type photos of the ship. No pics of the decks or pool or pool slide....aw well. I think Im trying to get away from the era of "take a pic of anything" type days just to document my entire second on earth... Plus I think in the grand scheme of things, some people do not want to scroll through 1,000 pics of mine to look at a trip they did ... read more

Geo: 13.8064, 104.982Ráno vstáváme "brzy", abychom vše stihli. Vyrážíme na snídani do restaurace, kde jsme byli včera na večeři, protože jako jediná je schopna po ránu připravit kávu, balíme věci, které necháváme na pokoji a bereme mou motorku a vyrážíme. Jedeme asi 30km než dorazíme k příjezdové cestě do Koh Ker. Vstupné je 10$ což není úplně málo, ale co naplat. Během několika málo minut dorážíme k první budově komplexu. Sice jsme přejeli tu úplně první, což je Prasat Pram. Dále navštěvujeme Prasat Neang Khamu, Prasat Chen, míjíme vodní nádrž Rohal a konečně přijížd... read more

Geo: 19.3086, -81.2521TUESDAY, 1/7/14 – Tuesday morningAnne and I walked down the road to the end of the peninsula beyondthe Kiabo Beach Bar to an area called Starfish Point. Road access tothe area is blocked by a locked entrance gate that leads out to thepoint through what appears to be an abandoned development. Parkingat the circle at that entrance, you can walk to a “public beach”on the north side of the road and then up the beach to the area wheremany starfish frequent the sheltered waters near several short, man-made breakwaters extending from the beach. We walked up the beach,taking lots of pictures of the starfish, then, as we rounded thepoint, saw a good many boats either anchored or beached along theshore. Many of the tour operators include Starfish Point on theirschedule and that is what ... read more

Geo: 12.5329, 104.205Ráno vyrážíme směrem k Floating village s cílem najít tam nějaký homestay a přespat tam. Cesta po national highway číslo 1 není z nejpříjemnějších a tak jsme rádi, když konečně dorážíme k odbočce k floating village. Když dorážíme k přístavu, odkud se dá do vesnice dostat, jsme zhnuseni. Hned nás odchytává místní "mafie" a nutí nám jejich dopravu za tučnou částku. Snažíme se vzdorovat a najít si vlastní odvoz nějakým místňákem, ale nikdo si neodváží jít proti nim a tak nám nezbývá než se s... read more