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
Post-Trip in Bangkok – Day 3
When trying to decide how many days we would spend in Bangkok, we wanted to have enough where we could take a day trip away from the city and see something else. I decided that the ancient capital city of Ayutthaya would make for a great tour. It is a UNESCO world heritage site. The city was founded in 1351 and was razed by the Burmese army in 1767. During that time, it was the second capital of Siam.
On the way to Ayutthaya, Onn wanted us to stop at the Bang Pa-In Palace that is also known as the royal summer palace. It is still used by the royal family. Having seen lots of palaces yesterday and during the previous three weeks, we didn’t know what to expect. When we arrived, we were blown away by the how peaceful and beautiful the place was. Additionally, we were about the only people there.
The reflections of the beautiful buildings on the water made it even more special.
We walked around enjoying the relaxing setting as Onn told us about each of the buildings and people who once lived there. Onn was a walking encyclopedia of Thai history.
We liked the elephant topiary. Quite appropriate for Thailand.
The Chinese style roofs are always interesting.
We had been walking around a large circle. By the time we got near the end, we had seen the last of the structures and tourists were arriving. We were so glad that we arrived early. It made it even more special for us.
We drove another half hour to get to Ayutthaya. The ancient city was huge. We would visit several of the parks containing different temple ruins. Our first stop was Wat Yai Chaimongkhon. As we entered the grounds, there was a large reclining Buddha.
We then moved to the main part of the grounds where there was a very large stupa.
There were many ruins on the grounds along with other smaller stupas and a path lined with Buddhas.
During our drive, Onn asked if we wanted to see the tallest Buddha in the world. It actually is the tallest in Thailand, but it is one of the tallest in the world at 92 meters or 300 feet tall. He said it would take about 45 minutes to get there if we wanted to go. With it being a hotter day, we knew that the drive there and back would be refreshing for us.
While we got close, we could see the massive statue in the distance. This was going to be a good place.
When we got to the grounds, we first went through a temple. The Nagas in front were very scary looking.
The interior was covered with mirrors making it quite a sight.
They also had statues of famous monks around the temple.
Onn warned us that the next section was rather strange. It certainly was! There is an area depicting heaven and one of hell. We were seeing hell first. Very strange
Onn said that the people climbing the thorn tree were supposed to be adulterers.
We then came to the Great Buddha of Thailand. It is really big! Photos can’t do it justice.
I took a photo of Cathy next to the Buddha’s hand to show some perspective.
I walked around the side to get a different angle on it. It looked even bigger. Around the other side workers were renovating the lower part of the statue. It’s a big job.
On our way back to the car, we went through the heaven depiction area. It looked a lot more enjoyable. I behaved the rest of the day.
There was another area with some beautiful statues. I could also look back and take a last look at the Great Buddha.
We then drove back to Ayutthaya. It is an interesting place to drive around because you can be going down the road and suddenly there is a stupa on the side of the road or some other ruins.
We pulled into Wat Mahathat. It is one of Thailand’s oldest and most significant temples. We came to a display of what it looked like when it was constructed in 1630.
We started walking through the grounds. There were many prangs and ruins on the grounds. There were also heads from statues laying around.
I came to a sign that I appreciated in that it showed the difference in stupas and prangs. Although after I finish this review, I will probably never have a need for that knowledge again.
I saw a massive prang in the distance. Onn said that it was at a different park that we weren’t going to. That was OK since I could see it from there.
This particular park is very famous for the Buddha head that fell off a statue and has grown into a tree. It is one of the most recognizable iconic images from Thailand.
We continued looking around this most interesting site. There was so much to see.
It was lunch time and Onn had a restaurant recommendation for us. He had another Michelin starred restaurant. This one also had good food. The Thai food we were having in the local places was much different from the Thai food we eat at home. I prefer what I am used to, but the different things we were experiencing were still good.
Our next destination was Wat Pra Si Sanphet. A royal palace was built there in 1351. There was a lot to see there too.
We only stayed at the park for about 30 minutes, since we wanted to see as many as we could before heading back to Bangkok. When we approached the next park, we saw people getting elephant rides. It must be the thing to do in Thailand.
We stopped quickly for me to get a photo of a very large reclining Buddha.
Our last park of the day was Wat Chaiwatthanaram. Try saying that really quick! It is one of Thailand’s best-known temples and a major tourist attraction. Onn showed us a video in the car from the 2021 movie Mortal Kombat that was filmed at this location. It looked like what would be the best park of the day. Our first view of it looked very promising. There were lots of prangs and stupas to see.
This was the hottest day we experienced the whole trip at 97 degrees. Even with the 38% humidity, we were wearing down. I went inside one of the buildings where there was a statue of a couch that probably had another statue laying on it at one time.
This park had so much to see. I wish we had more time there, but I walked around as much of it as I could. This was an amazing place.
These ruins were in great shape and were so impressive. It was the best of the day. I’m glad that Onn saved the best to last.
We had an amazing day of touring at a place most people will never visit. We felt so fortunate to be able walk in these ancient historical locations. We had a long drive home and were pleased to have a chance to cool down and relax.
When we returned to our room, we had a dragon fruit on our coffee table and a chocolate heart with some chocolate treats in it. Because it was our last night at the hotel, they wanted us to leave with a sweet taste in our mouth.
Before our dinner, we walked around the grounds. We wanted to see the swimming pool in daylight, since we hadn’t been able to use it with all our touring. It is a very nice pool.
The Thiptara Restaurant that evening was very good. It was a very nice venue with tasty food. I have to say everything we ate at the hotel was first class. We enjoyed the musician during our dinner.
We didn’t bother packing our bags, since the next day’s tour was starting at 10:00 AM. We could sleep in.
Post-Trip in Bangkok – Day 4
We enjoyed our stay at the Peninsula so much, that we hated to leave. We were also looking forward to getting home after traveling for 3.5 weeks. We had our last wonderful buffet breakfast and finished our packing. We met Onn and Naris for our last day in Bangkok. We had a freeform day. The only requirement was that we would be able to get to the airport by 4:30 PM to catch our 8:20 PM flight. I had read that 3 hours might not be enough, plus we assumed that we would be able to wait in the Emirates business class lounge like we had traveling to Singapore.
When Onn asked me what we wanted to do the last day, the only thing that I had requested from Tong was to go to see a stupa I had seen on TripAdvisor and possibly a market that Tong had recommended. When I told Onn what I wanted to see, I looked up the name of the pagoda and it was at the Pak Nam Temple. The name sounded familiar to me. He said that was where the big Buddha was that we saw at the end of the city tour two days earlier. Good grief, that was the pagoda that we were too tired to walk up the steps. Onn said no problem, we will go there first thing. So, we did. I couldn’t believe how empty the place was. It was so crowded the previous afternoon, and no one was there in the morning. We walked up to the stupa and Onn said we could take the elevator because we are elderly. No problem, we were elderly and proud of it.
Before we took the elevator, we had to pass through a museum. Now this was a really nice one. There were some beautiful, interesting things to look at, but we didn’t have much time to browse.
Then we caught the elevator up to the main floor to see the exhibit I had been anxious to see. When we got there, we were wowed! The whole room was mesmerizing. Truly unbelievable. It is certainly a must see when in Bangkok.
The next place we went to was the National Museum. We thought it would be a good place to go for a leisurely tour day before flying home.
The first building we went to was a chapel. I liked the guards in front of it.
The interior looked like a temple with a Buddha statue, but there were more displays behind the statue of furniture and gorgeous wall art.
On the way to the next building, we passed a lovely pavilion.
Onn knew that we didn’t want to see every building and exhibit in this large museum, so he narrowed it down to just a few that he thought we would enjoy the most. The first one was the building of royal funeral chariots. Now these were some very ornate fancy chariots.
They also had some other objects such as coffins and urns used by the royals.
These mechanical hoists were used to raise the royal urns up to the chariots.
There were so many gorgeous chariots in this building. Even if this was the only building we went to, the visit to the museum was well worth doing.
We next went to the largest building that had several different areas with historical objects. There were so many interesting objects. It was amazing how many of them that Onn was able to tell us about. Many items in the museum had originally been in Ayutthaya. Below are some of my favorite photos from that building.
Onn wanted to show us as many beautiful places as he could, so on the way to our next planned location, we stopped to take exterior photos of the Wat Ratchanatdaram temple. Now this was a gorgeous building! Onn did good.
In a smaller building across from the main temple, I took a quick look at a Buddha there.
The next place we were going to, Wat Traimit, was a most special place in that it contained the Golden Buddha. This is a statue that is made entirely of gold, 5.5 tons of it. That’s 176,000 ounces of gold. It is worth in gold alone hundreds of million dollars. It was made in the 13th – 14th centuries. It was in Ayutthaya and covered in stucco to prevent if from being stolen in the 1767 Burmese war that destroyed Ayutthaya. It lay in the ruins until 1801 when a king had many Buddhas from Ayutthaya moved to the new capital of Bangkok. The covered Buddha stayed in a temple until the temple fell into disrepair. It was moved to a minor temple, Wat Traimit in 1935 and kept in a building with a tin roof. It stayed in the building for 20 years until a larger temple was built on the grounds for it. During the move, a rope broke, and it dropped to the ground breaking off some of the stucco. It had taken over 200 years for the forgotten Golden Buddha to be revealed. This discovery made the minor temple much more important.
We climbed up the temple steps and entered the room with the most special Buddha.
I took lots of photos of very shiny body. I put in the photo Onn took of us to show how large the statue is.
The last stop on our tour was to the Jim Thompson House. It was built by the owner of the Thai Silk Company in 1959. Jim was credited with revitalizing the Thai silk industry in the 1950’s and 1960’s. He disappeared while visiting Malaysia in 1967. His body was never recovered and no one knows what happened to him. The house is now owned by his foundation and is a museum showcasing the southeast Asian art he collected. It is a very popular tourist attraction. Because of our busy morning, it was now after 1:00 PM. Onn got us tickets for the 2:00 PM tour, so we went into the museum’s restaurant for a light lunch. It was very good meal.
With it being a hot day in the mid 90’s, it wasn’t that pleasant walking around the beautiful grounds and un-airconditioned house. But we did appreciate being at the museum and learning about the house and art in it from the tour guide.
There was a lot to look at. There were many tourists in the house on different tours, so we had to wait for one group to leave a room before moving to the next room. I would have enjoyed he tour much more had the weather been cooler and/or the rooms had been air conditioned. The heat and lack of air movement did make it somewhat uncomfortable.
When the tour was over, we headed for the airport. We thanked Onn and Naris for the three days of wonderful tours. They did an outstanding job for us. We were most fortunate to have them as our tour team.
While checking in at the Emirates counter, the agent told us that our tickets did not allow us into the business class lounge because they were promotional fares. What? We had business class tickets which should mean we could go into the business class lounge. Emirates also had a first class lounge, so the lounge was for business class customers. Since we got our tickets through our credit card company with points, nothing was ever mentioned about the tickets being restricted. They weren’t on the incoming trip to Singapore. With over three hours to kill, we were glad that we were able to go into the Priority Pass lounges that we had access to because we had the Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card. We were also denied access to the Emirates business class lounge after our seven-hour flight to Dubai, and once again were able to use a Priority Pass lounge.
Our 17-hour flight from Dubai to Miami, although very long, went very well. Emirates food and service are outstanding. We sped through immigration with our Global Access service. We were shocked when we got to the luggage carousel, and it started up shortly after with our luggage being in the first ten bags. We have never experienced fast luggage access at MIA. We were thrilled. It was a nice ending to very long flights and a 3.5-week vacation.
Recap
This was just a perfect trip. We had great weather every day. We visited wonderful ports and stayed at two of the most amazing cities in the world. We experienced so much and saw so many beautiful places. We had a most enjoyable cruise, with smooth sailing throughout. We at first thought the modified schedule with reduced port times would be a problem, but it didn’t really make much of a difference. We met some lovely new friends on the cruise itself and on our shared tours, which always makes a cruise that much better. We couldn’t have had a better time on this vacation. Trips like this make us want to do even more trips, which we have already planned for the next two years. We can’t wait to start the next one.
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