Islands to Indochina Cruise on the Oceania Riviera
1/23/2024 to 2/15/2024
Page 1 – Pre-trip in Singapore
Page 2 – Embarkation; Ship
Page 3 - Cabin, Shows, Activities; Ports of Call: Muara, Brunei; Kota Kinabalu (Borneo), Malaysia
Page 4 - Ports of Call: Puerto Princesa, Philippines; Coron, Philippines; Manila, Philippines
Page 5 - Ports of Call: Hue (Chan May), Vietnam; Nha Trang, Vietnam; Bangkok (Laem Chabang), Thailand
Page 6 - Ports of Call: Saigon, Vietnam; Sihanoukville, Cambodia; Bangkok (Laem Chabang), Thailand
Page 7 - Post-trip in Bangkok Thailand Days 1 & 2
Page 8 - Post-trip in Bangkok Thailand Days 3 & 4
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam – Day 2
This was our 4th and last day in Vietnam. We were using Tour with Xuan (https://www.tourwithxuan.com) for the tour again, but today we had Xuan himself as our tour guide. Although Xuan looks like it would be pronounced Juan, it is pronounced like Soon. We were really fortunate to have him since he is a great guide and just a pleasure to be with. I communicated so much with him over the last ten months, that it was like meeting an old friend.
I couldn’t believe how much nicer Saigon was today than it was on my first visit 14 years ago. Many of the shanty towns have been replaced by new developments and the city appears to be thriving. Even the shanty town area looked much better and had been cleaned up.
We saw many large, gorgeous homes on our way into the city.
We were very lucky to be in Vietnam a few days before the Chinese lunar new year. The year of the dragon. They take off a week or two around the big day. Xuan told us that 7 million of the 13 million residents would leave the city between Feb 7 – 15. Everyone buys lots of flowers, bonsai trees, cumquat trees, etc. so there are many vendors showing their beautiful products. I was surprised at how many people were able to carry so much on their scooters, even trees.
We were impressed with the decorated watermelons we saw in some shops.
Our first stop was at the Thien Hau Temple. The temple was first erected in 1760, but had major expansions in the 1800’s. The intricate porcelain roof decorations were very nice.
The interior was built around a courtyard. There was a lot of ornate woodwork.
As with many of the places we visited, women were posing for photos in front of the temple.
We left the temple and went to Chinatown where we were going to go on a rickshaw ride. I did something similar in Hanoi in 2010 on what was called a cyclo. It is a lot of fun and you get up close to the community and see so much of what life is like there.
I got a kick out of the shops catering to all the motor scooters. One sold chain sprockets and the other plastic fairings for the various brands of scooters
We also passed by the Lucky Palace Casino and the Bình Tây Market. We saw so many gorgeous flowers for sale. We couldn’t figure how all of the flowers we saw on the tour could possibly be sold with just two days to go before new year’s day.
While we were being pedaled around town, Xuan was on a motor scooter taking photos and videos of us.
I am so glad he took the below video, since it does a great job of showing what the experience was like.
I got a kick out of the people on motor scooters carrying trees with them, one in particular had a very tall one.
Our ride lasted 40-minutes. It was quite an experience. On the way to our next stop, the Vietnam War Remnants Museum, we saw a very tall skyscraper in the distance.
When we arrived at the museum, it was a very attractive modern building. I enjoyed seeing the military equipment on the outside of the museum.
The interior had lots of photos and memorabilia from the Vietnam war. Many of the photos were certainly disturbing. The exhibitions and narrative fit with the museum’s previous name, "the Museum of Chinese and American War Crimes". We didn’t stay inside very long. We preferred the exterior exhibits.
We then walked through an area of town where everyone was taking selfies or posing for photos. We couldn’t believe what a perfect day this was for walking. The temperature was a high of 83, low humidity and partly cloudy. I liked the little girl who was posing for her mom.
The place was just covered with gorgeous floral decorations. It was great to be here during this festive time.
There was an area where artisans were painting and doing calligraphy.
We then went to the Gustaffe Eiffel designed post office building.
It is an attractive building. The floor was quite interesting. It has a large painting of Ho Chi Minh on the back wall.
We continued our walk with Xuan pointing out famous places. He showed us a famous photo from when Saigon was being evacuated from the top of the CIA building. He then pointed and showed us where that building is. It has changed, but it still has the same basic top.
He also showed us the famous Rex Hotel. It was the site of the daily press briefings during the Vietnam War that took place on the rooftop garden.
We then continued our walk in the festive area stopping to take photos of the royal palace. A statue of Ho Chi Minh is in front of it.
Xuan took a selfie with us in front of the palace.
We continued our walk along the very crowded area where there were so many flowers and new year’s decorations.
Looking back at the palace, there was just a wall of people. We were at ground zero for new year festivities. There were just so many flowers and decorations. I know I am putting in too many photos of them, but they were just so pretty.
We could see our next destination close by. It was the same skyscraper I had taken a photo of during our drive into the city, the 68 story Bitexco Financial Tower. It was the tallest building in Vietnam when completed in 2010. It is now the second tallest after a 81-story Landmark 81 building was completed in 2018.
We were going to go to the Saigon Skydeck on the 49th floor. It is 3 floors below the helipad, so there are no obstructed views of the city.
The views were amazing. I couldn’t believe how large and modern the city had become in 14 years.
We could see the royal palace and part of the festive area we had just been at from above.
We could also see the tallest building, Landmark 81, in the distance with an attractive bridge over the river in front of it.
Our last stop was at a coffee shop to try some of the famous Vietnam coffee. Xuan recommended the iced coffee with sweetened condensed milk. They also served it with tea. It was just outstanding!
Before driving back to the ship, Xuan wanted to stop at one of his favorite sandwich shops so that we could try a sandwich that he gets regularly. He thought we would enjoy it and hold us over until we got back to the ship where we could have lunch. Each couple split a sandwich. It was so good!
Xuan gave us just an outstanding tour of Saigon. We could not have been happier with the tour or him. He is a very special tour guide. If you are traveling to South Vietnam, I highly recommend him and his company. All his tours were great.
It was a long way between the port gate and the Riviera. They fortunately had a nice and frequent shuttle bus for us to get to the ship.
As we were cruising back down the river to the South China Sea, we passed by more seafood farms. Some were very large.
We thoroughly enjoyed our four days in Vietnam. The next day was a much-needed sea day. We had to rest up for Cambodia and Thailand.
Sihanoukville, Cambodia
Sihanoukville was the one port that wasn’t effected by the engine trouble revised schedule. We would be in port from 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM. This is the only deep-water port in Cambodia. It is also a resort city with many beaches.
When I looked out at the dock to see where all the tour busses would be, I saw a large ship with a helipad and loads of equipment all over it. I couldn’t imagine what it was used for. The helipad had the name of the ship on it, Ingenium II. So, I Googled it and found that it is an offshore support vessel that processes oil, gas and water.
We were taking a ship tour, the Highlights of Sihanoukville. It would give us a nice overview of a port we had not previously visited. Our guide was Chuen. We had lucked out on every ship tour getting very good guides.
Our first stop was at a traffic circle. Yes, a traffic circle. It sounded strange to us too, until we saw it in the distance. This was a most interesting looking circle.
Everyone was anxious to get out of the bus to take photos of the lion and lioness. The circle is referred to as the Golden Lion Roundabout. It is very photo worthy.
I read that some people find it amusing when viewed from certain angles, it appears that the lions are mating. Across the roundabout were statues of 5 elephants set up to protect the people from the lions.
Chuen was very proud of the new roads that had been built in the city. It was a major upgrade. There were also many new building and hotels being built. Chuen said that Chinese investors have been very busy in the city. We have seen this happening in many countries. China is very interested in increasing its control of SE Asia countries.
Our next stop was at the Wat Krom Pagoda. There was a lot to see there. The first thing we came to was a Buddha statue with a Naga snake above it. The Naga is a cobra and, in many instances, shown with multiple heads. We would see many Naga statues during the rest of the trip. They are there to protect the Buddha.
They had some ornately decorated temple buildings on the grounds.
There were several statue groupings that Chuen explained the meaning of to us. It made the statues much more interesting to us.
In addition to a reclining Buddha, they were also constructing a new very large sitting Buddha. We were told somewhere during the trip that temples try to build bigger attractions to draw more people to their temples.
I got a kick out of the fountain with the children peeing in it.
When we left, we were able to see some more of the downtown area with lots of businesses.
We next stopped at a very large market. The place was so crowded. Everyone wanted to be there.
There were many different stalls with lots of items to buy. Some of the aisles were very narrow and congested. It wasn’t the kind of shopping that we wanted to partake in.
It was interesting to see all the different kinds of foods that they ate in Cambodia. The food court area was also crowded with people eating.
Our next stop was at the Wat Leu Pagoda. They had some beautiful statues and buildings. Naga snakes were also protecting the property.
This temple was located on top of a mountain and had very nice panoramic view of the city below.
We had one last place to visit on the tour. On the way there we passed by some interesting statues and fountains.
We were going to enjoy Sihanoukville’s beaches at the Sokha Beach Resort. As we entered, we could tell that it was a very nice place. It was also crowded. The food on the tables looked quite good.
With us only being at the resort for less than an hour, there wasn’t time to even consider swimming, so we just walked out to the beach to check it out. It was a very large and lovely beach. I was surprised it wasn’t crowded like the resort was.
As we were walking around, we came to an area where people were getting foot/leg massages. We were quickly approached by several girls wanting to do massages for us. The cost was $5 for a 30-minute massage. We didn’t want one that long, but a foot massage sounded pretty good. Cathy and I each picked out a girl and we sat down. As they were doing their thing, other girls wanted to give us back massages or other services. We had to shoo them away, since they were persistent. Finally, we were left alone to enjoy our foot massages. It was a good use of our beach time.
After the massage, we walked toward what looked like some small shops. There were a bunch of them, and they looked very nice, but we weren’t interested in shopping, just looking at what was available.
On our drive back, I saw more of the city’s beaches. This town was blessed with many great beaches.
I took some photos of the city when we got back to the ship. It is a very nice and popular resort town.
Tomorrow was our last port day. Our cruise was almost over, but we still had five days in Thailand to enjoy.
Bangkok (Laem Chabang), Thailand
While we were cruising up the Gulf of Thailand to the port of Laem Chabang, I received a WhatsApp message from Tong, my tour operator. She said that we weren’t going to be docking in Laem Chabang, but at the Sriracha Harbor Deep Sea Port. Laem Chabang port was already full of cruise ships, so this was the backup port. It was actually not that far away, from Laem Chabang. As we approached the dock, we couldn’t believe how far away we were from land. It looked like at least a mile away. I was very glad that there were shuttle busses to take us to the gate.
I was using the same tour company that I had used on my first visit to Bangkok, Tour with Tong (http://www.tourwithtong.com). We were going to do a tour of the town of Pattaya. Our guide for the day was Pat and his wife, Kiki, was the driver. They were a good team.
This was kind of a one-off tour for Tong since I needed a Pattaya tour and a transfer the next day to Bangkok. It worked out that Pat and his family were visiting relatives in Pattaya, so they didn’t have to go back and forth two times to Bangkok, 82 miles and 1 ¾ hours away. The ship only had one actual tour to Pattaya plus an on your own tour, where they dropped you off and picked you up in town. Most of the ship tours were to Bangkok. Since we were going to be in Bangkok for 4 days and 3 nights, I was more interested in seeing what Pattaya offered. I did some research and picked out three places to visit.
Our first destination was the Sanctuary of Truth. This is quite an amazing place. The structure was commissioned by an eccentric millionaire back in 1981. It is made entirely of wood. There aren’t even metal nails used in the construction. It is still under construction and is to be completed in 2025. The website says “The idea behind the Sanctuary of Truth was to honor Buddhist and Hindu values while simultaneously preserving and supporting traditional Thai wood-carving techniques.” When you get the first glimpse of the building from above, it is startling and mesmerizing. Thank goodness for photos since there is no way to describe it.
We had to walk down a long set of stairs to get to beach level. Everyone is required to wear a hard hat if you go into the building. They don’t want anyone to be hurt in there. The first place we visited was the construction museum. It is a working museum since artisans are busy making the next additions to the building.
We left the museum to get some more exterior photos from ground level. They also had elephant rides available, but we weren't interested.
The amount of detail work is incredible. All you can do is stare in awe at everything. I am putting in a lot of photos since this is a place that so few people will ever have the opportunity to visit.
We then went inside and were just overwhelmed with so many carvings and designs to look at. It is such an amazing place! I can’t imagine how someone came up with the design of this building and could actually think that it could be built. Pat pointed out different features and carvings in the building telling us their meaning.
When we left the interior, we started to walk back to the parking lot. I had to take a last photo of the exterior from across a small pond.
We weren’t looking forward to climbing back up the stairs to the parking lot, since there were quite a few steps. Pat told us to wait in the shade. He came back to us and said to follow him. He found a grounds employee with a truck fitted with seats. They apparently help handicapped and elderly people back to the top. Even though we could have walked up the steps, we appreciated the elderly designation in this case.
In my tour research, I had seen praises about a white temple. I thought it was supposed to be near Pattaya, but it turned out that it was in northern Thailand. I did find a white temple close to Pattaya that looked pretty good, so that is what I added to our itinerary. When I told Pat where we wanted to go, I had to give him the Thai name for it, Wat Nong Yai, since he wasn’t sure where I wanted to go. He knew the temple and it was on the way to our third destination.
We arrived at the temple grounds and saw the main white temple near the entrance. The decorations were quite ornate.
Once again, there were Naga snakes protecting the Buddha.
The inside of the temple was very nice with the mirrored walls and ceiling.
Along one side of the temple, there were walls of windows with wax figures of famous monks. They were very real looking.
There were other buildings on the grounds also including another smaller white temple. I liked the full Naga bodies.
Pat explained the differences in the types of buildings and statues, and how we could tell them apart. I didn’t grasp it well, so most of the buildings were temples to me. There were some very pretty ornately decorated buildings. The pink elephants in front of one temple grabbed my attention.
Further into the complex there was a lake with a large mean looking Naga.
Behind the lake was a large Buddha statue.
The third place on my itinerary was the Big Buddha Temple. The photos I saw online made it look like a must-see place when in Pattaya. It is sitting at the highest elevation in the Pattaya area, with a 59-foot-tall Buddha on top. When we arrived at the stairs leading up to the Buddha, we were most impressed. There were large Nagas with their tails leading up to the statue. With the rise of the steps being so minimal, it was more like a ramp. It was an easier climb than it first appeared.
When we reached the top, we could finally see the whole big Buddha. It was big and pretty. I like big statues.
There were many other smaller Buddha statues around it.
I got next to the large statue to get some close ups.
We then walked out onto the area that looked out to the city and the waterfront.
Returning, I took a photo of the Buddha’s back. It is quite a statue.
When we cgot back to the car, it was only 2:00 PM and we had finished our itinerary. We had plenty of time to tour since the ship was overnighting at the port. Although, we did need to get back to the ship to pack for our disembarkation the next day. Pat recommended one more stop that he thought we would enjoy. He said that it was a large Buddha on the side of a mountain. Now that sounded like something I would enjoy seeing. As we got close, it was obvious that the mountain was right in front of us.
Walking from the parking lot, we saw a very large open park area with a 230-foot-tall laser engraved Buddha on the side of the mountain. Wow! We were experiencing another amazing place because we had decided to tour Pattaya.
There is a Buddhist monastery and temple also on the grounds, but we didn’t have time to check them out. We were so grateful that Pat wanted to show the mountain to us. He could have just taken us back to the ship, since we were done with what I wanted to see, but he wanted to give us the best tour he could. He certainly did.
He dropped us off at the gate and we waited for the shuttle back to the ship. It didn’t take long. I took a photo of hotels lining the beautiful beachfront resort. Pattaya is a great place to visit.
When I got back on the ship, I had to take another photo of the very long road back to land. I’ve never seen this long of an access to a dock. We would find out in the morning, why this wasn’t the best port to stop at.
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