2013 SPRING TRIP FROM MARCH 27 TO MAY 28, 2013 Cruise from Singapore to Rome plus Turkey

This trip is very atypical for us. We will not be taking Rosie and we will be visiting many countries that we have never seen before. Some of them, like Egypt and India, are on our “bucket list” and some of them, like Oman and Sri Lanka had never appeared on the list at all. Other differences include cruises on a typical “cruise ship with a casino, nightly entertainment, miniature golf course, rock climbing, etc. and a two week long bus tour.

We started planning the trip 8 months ago, making lists and checking them off as they were accomplished. For example, we needed to buy cruise clothes, especially for the equatorial countries as-shirts and jeans just wouldn’t cut it. Another must was to get our vaccinations updated and prescriptions for malaria. We also spent a lot of time on the Internet exploring the various ports to determine which field trips we would want to go on. Of course, we wanted to see both the Valley of the Kings and the Pyramids/Sphinx in Egypt, so those were the first excursions we signed up for. Others, like Kuala Lumpur and Dubai, we determined we could see most of the sights via public transportation and didn’t need to pay for a cruise tour.

When we finished all of our planning, our spring trip will be in 5 parts: 1) a week in Singapore visiting Sharon’s son who lives there and seeing some of the sights we haven’t seen since we were there in 2007. We especially hope to go bird watching in some of the parks there; 2) 14-day cruise on RCL ship Legends of the Sea from Singapore to Dubai –see map 1; 3) a 15-day continuation cruise from Dubai to Rome–see map 2; 4) a 13-day Cosmos Grand Tour of Turkey by touring bus–see map 3 ; and 5) 11 days in Istanbul with leisurely visits to the Mosques, Topkapi museum, and other points of interests.

Today we put Rosie in storage for two months and tomorrow we begin our trip with a flight from Atlanta to Singapore via Narita, Japan. It will take about 20-22 hours to fly there and probably twice as long to get over the trip.
We will try to keep you updated as we are able to connect to the Internet. We want to thank you all for following our ventures and an especial shout out goes to those who make our trips possible by staying in our home and watching after the house and yard.

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Trip Length: 9 weeks
Blog Entries: 36
Photos: 985
Words: 39873

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Blog Entries

Date	Blog Title	Location
March 27th 2013	SPRING 2013 TRIP FROM MARCH 27-MAY 28, 2013	Asia
March 31st 2013	SINGAPORE—Wednesday through Sunday, March 27-31, 2013	Asia » Singapore
April 2nd 2013	SINGAPORE—Monday and Tuesday, April 1-2, 2013	Asia » Singapore
April 3rd 2013	SINGAPORE—Wednesday, April 3, 2013	Asia » Singapore
April 5th 2013	SINGAPORE—Thursday and Friday, April 4 and 5, 2013	Asia » Singapore
April 6th 2013	PORT KLANG, MALAYSIA--Saturday, April 6, 2013	Asia » Malaysia » Wilayah Persekutuan » Kuala Lumpur
April 7th 2013	PHUKET, THAILAND--Sunday, April 7, 2013	Asia » Thailand
April 9th 2013	ON BOARD THE ROYAL CARIBBEAN CRUISE LINES, LEGEND OF THE SEAS--Monday and Tuesday, April 8 and 9, 2013	Asia
April 11th 2013	COLOMBO, SRI LANKA AND AT SEA--Wednesday-Thursday, April 10-11, 2013	Asia » Sri Lanka » Western Province » Colombo
April 12th 2013	COCHIN, INDIA--Friday, April 12, 2013	Asia » India
April 13th 2013	NEW MANGALORE, INDIA--Saturday, April 13, 2013	Asia » India
April 14th 2013	GOA (MORMU-GAO), INDIA--Sunday, April 14, 2013	Asia » India » Goa » Mormugao
April 15th 2013	BOMBAY (MUMBAI), INDIA--Monday, April 15, 2013	Asia » India
April 17th 2013	AT SEA AND MUSCAT, OMAN--Tuesday and Wednesday, April 16 and 17, 2013	Middle East » Oman » Muscat
April 19th 2013	DUBAI, UAE--Thursday and Friday, April 18-19, 2013	Middle East » United Arab Emirates » Dubai
April 25th 2013	AT SEA FROM DUBAI, UAE TO AQABA, JORDAN VIA GULF OF ADEN AND RED SEA--Saturday-Thursday, April 20-25, 2013	Middle East
April 26th 2013	AQABA, JORDAN--Friday, April 26, 2013	Middle East » Jordan » South » Aqaba
April 27th 2013	SAFAGA (PORT FOR LUXOR), EGYPT--Saturday, April 27, 2013	Africa » Egypt » Red Sea » Port Safaga
April 29th 2013	SHARM EL SHEIKH AND THE SUEZ CANAL, EGYPT--Sunday and Monday, April 28-29, 2013	Africa » Egypt » Red Sea » Sharm el-Sheikh
May 1st 2013	ALEXANDRIA (and CAIRO), EGYPT--Tuesday and Wednesday, April 30 and May 1, 2013	Africa » Egypt » Mediterranean » Alexandria
May 4th 2013	FROM ALEXANDRIA, EGYPT TO ROME, ITALY TO ISTANBUL, TURKEY—Thursday-Saturday, May 2-4, 2013	Europe
May 6th 2013	ISTANBUL TO CANAKALLE, TURKEY—Sunday and Monday, May 5-6, 2013	Middle East » Turkey » Marmara » Gallipoli
May 7th 2013	CANAKKALE (GATEWAY TO TROY) TO KUSADASI, TURKEY--Tuesday, May 7, 2013	Middle East » Turkey » Marmara » Troy
May 8th 2013	KUSADASI, TURKEY (OUR BASE FOR EPHESUS)--Wednesday, May 8, 2013	Middle East » Turkey » Aegean » Ephesus
May 9th 2013	KUSADASI TO HIERAPOLIS-PARMUKKALE, TURKEY (VIA APHRODISIAS)—Thursday, May 9, 2013	Middle East » Turkey » Aegean » Aphrodisias
May 10th 2013	PEMUKKALE TO KONYA, TURKEY--Friday, May 10, 2013	Middle East » Turkey » Central Anatolia » Konya
May 11th 2013	KONYA TO CAPPADOCIA, TURKEY AND GOREME NATIONAL PARK—May 11, 2013	Middle East » Turkey » Central Anatolia » Cappadocia
May 12th 2013	CAPPADOCIA, TURKEY--Sunday, May 12, 2013	Middle East » Turkey » Central Anatolia » Cappadocia
May 13th 2013	CAPPADOCIA TO ANKARA, TURKEY—Monday, May 13, 2013	Middle East » Turkey » Central Anatolia » Ankara
May 14th 2013	ANKARA TO BURSA, TURKEY—Tuesday, May 14, 2013	Middle East » Turkey » Marmara » Bursa
May 15th 2013	BURSA TO ISTANBUL, TURKEY—Wednesday, May 15, 2013	Middle East » Turkey » Marmara » Istanbul
May 16th 2013	ISTANBUL, TURKEY (Topkapi Palace, Hagia Sofia, and Grand Bazaar)—Thursday, May 16, 20103	Middle East » Turkey » Marmara » Istanbul
May 20th 2013	ISTANBUL, TURKEY ON OUR OWN (PART 1, including Topkapi Palace)—May 17-28, 2013	Middle East » Turkey » Marmara » Istanbul
May 23rd 2013	ISTANBUL, TURKEY ON OUR OWN (PART 2, Food including Kumkapi Fish markets and seafood restaurants)—May 17-28, 2013	Middle East » Turkey » Marmara » Istanbul
May 23rd 2013	ISTANBUL, TURKEY ON OUR OWN (PART 3, including Dolmabahce Palace)—May 17-28, 2013	Middle East » Turkey » Marmara » Istanbul
May 26th 2013	ISTANBUL, TURKEY ON OUR OWN (PART 4, including Bosphorus Cruise and Glimpse of Black Sea)—May 17-28, 2013	Middle East » Turkey » Marmara » Istanbul