Colombo is Sri Lanka’s largest city and former capitol before the government moved its administrative offices down the road to a new site. Most government bureaus remain in Colombo including the army and navy and foreign consulates. Our tour in modern buses begins at the Kelaniya Buddhist Temple where we see a variety of Buddha’s, including a large reclining one, and wonderfully decorated walls and ceilings in shoeless feet. Our city tour passes by the famous Clock Tower, Pettah Bazaar, Colombo Fort, and British built Old Parliament Building, President House and Town Hall. We passed through the residential district of Cinnamon Gardens and the large campus of the University of Colombo plus Independence Square enroute to the National Museum. The museum has a vast collection of early religious idols and other artifacts. Our sumptuous lunch at ... read more

After cruising the South China Sea for a day and enjoying the on board activities and culinary pleasures, we arrive at Singapore, an island nation emerging from the British Empire as a former member of the Malaysian federation. It has become an economic powerhouse while still maintaining an English interest in civility, law abiding citizens and cleanliness. In the morning, after arrival, I venture out to ride the overhead cable car to visit a variety of sights, including Singapore’s Universal Studios theme park. Not needing to see a step child of Orlando’s original, I enjoy alternative sightseeing until our afternoon excursion bus tour of Singapore’s iconic sights. Stopping at Thian Hock Keng Temple for photos we continue on to Clarke Quay for a riverboat ride in the middle of the city. Our guide points out the ... read more

The thriving former capitol of South Vietnam, now named for the Communist Vietnamese hero, is a vehicular sea of movement with the horn used as a warning device of intended entrance into traffic flow. While there are daily traffic deaths reported, truck and bus drivers do receive several months of training in advance of licensure. There are 5 ½ million scooters here. This country of 90 million people, where only 5% are Communist Party members, displays a capitalistic environment. 90% of the population is Buddhist with 3% Christian. (A note to Dade City, FL residents: Buddhists must plant 2 Kumquat Trees a year as part of their faith.) Our visit to the Yen Tu Monastery in the Ha Long countryside reveals many beautiful Buda representations as we doff our shoes out of respect. Although evidence of ... read more

Hong Kong is as vibrant, in a different way, as Shanghai. The long time British control and separation from “Mainland China” (from 1842-1997) pervades the physical makeup. With the British left hand traffic and Chinese right-hand driving vehicles having either right or left driving positions, owners procuring license plates good in Hong Kong must spend many additional dollars to display a license plate good on the mainland, if they choose to go there. Spread over 1,092 square kilometers, Hong Kong consists of Hong Kong Island and Kowloon across the harbor with the New Territories, and several smaller islands. 3 million active citizens inhabit these islands and territories. We boarded a bus to visit Victoria Peak to see the sights, crunching our way through rush hour traffic. Unfortunately, the presence of 5 other cruise ships in port ... read more

Our limo arrived at our home at 4:45 AM and we began our trip to Asia. With few people in line at that hour we were rapidly at our gate and were soon on our way to Newark for transfer to a Boing 777 after a brief respite in the United Club. Most of the passengers were returning Chinese with many purchases from their American travels. We learned later that the cost difference of clothes (2/3rdless) and liquor (1/2) among other things were the attractions. Our flight path took us across New England, Quebec, Labrador and Greenland to Northern China at 33,000 feet and -56 degrees. China appeared desolate and snow covered. Arriving in Beijing it was difficult to see the ground from the air because of the pollution, a condition that prevailed throughout our overnight ... read more