| | Feb 20, 2006 - M/S Nautica - Oceania Cruise --> Part 2 | (click to enlarge)
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 | | show all 40 | | Grand staircase onboard the Nautica | | View as we cruise down Saigon River | | Crazy wiring of the cities in South East Asia - Ho Chi Minh City | | |
| | PART 2 - Pagodas and Palaces onboard the M/S Nautica
ITINERARY
Day 1 - Board Nautica in Hong Kong
Day 2 - Hong Kong - sail away 4:00 pm
Day 3 - At Sea
Day 4 - At Sea
Day 5 - Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia
Day 6 - Bandar Seri Begawa, Brunei
Day 7 - At Sea
Day 8 - Nah Trang, Vietnam
Day 9 - Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon), Vietnam
Day 10 - Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon), Vietnam
Day 11 - At Sea
Day 12 - Singapore
Day 13 - At Sea
Day 14 - Ko Samui, Thailand
Day 15 - Bangkok, Thailand
Day 16 - Bangkok, Thailand - Disembark Ship
- Excellent itinerary - nice mix of ports and days at sea
- One night at beginning and end of the cruise in port on board ship - nice chance to get to know your embarkation and debarkation city
- Unfortunately the port we were at in Bangkok was about 2 hours outside of the city and very expensive to get into town. A lot of passengers opted not to spend their last night onboard the ship and instead stayed in the city. We enjoyed one last night on board and delicious meal!
- The overnight stay in Ho Chi Minh City was excellent giving us the added time to explore this famous city.
HONG KONG
Hong Kong was a thrilling city to explore with plenty of energy and sites to discover. Arriving into Hong Kong a few days early was a great idea to try to take in all this booming city has to offer. For more details see the previous entry.
DAYS AT SEA
With five days at sea we had plenty of time on this cruise to relax and enjoy the facilities of the Nautica. Although a small ship, it came complete with pretty much all the amenities of a big ship - pool, hot tub, gym, sauna, lounges, library, computer lab with classes, spa, casino and shops. Our typical sea days were spent poolside with a good book, a fitness break in the gym, a relaxing sauna and perhaps a soak in the hot tub. Of course there were three incredible meals highlighting each day and a few computer classes thrown in for Carl.
KOTA KINABALU, SABAH MALAYSIA
Kota Kinabalu is famed mostly for the adventure travellers who are looking to climb 4,100 metre Mount Kinabalu, dive some of the famous dive sites, or to travel further out to the orangutan sanctuaries and other wildlife. For our short day stop we unfortunately were not able to climb the mountain or have time to visit the orangutan sanctuaries and instead opted to hop on a local ferry and venture out to Sapi Island, one of several small islands with nice beaches just outside the city of Kota Kinabalu. Here we swam, snorkelled and relaxed on the beach taking in a scenic boat ride back to the ship passing past a local overwater village to observe a completely different way of living to what we would be used to home in North America.
BANDAR SERI BEGAWA, BRUNEI
The ship docked about an hour outside the main city and we opted to take the local bus into town for a more authentic experience. The heat was incredibly intense with thick, hot, humid air. Brunei is known mostly for its incredible rich Sultan who apparently earns in excess of $5 million US per day. Knowing this, we had expectations to find a city that was clean, modern and moving towards Singapore standards. In reality, Bandar Seri Begawa was a nice city but nothing too impressive and a day of touring around was enough to see all we wanted to see - the overwater village of Kampung Ayer numerous mosques, the central city and the Sultan's Palace - or as much of it as we could see from the locked gates and riverside park.
NHA TRANG, VIETNAM
Nha Trang is known as one of the few beach destinations in Vietnam although we opted to pass on the sand and surf and instead enjoyed our first Vietnamese city exploring the area with its temples and massive Buddha statues, the ancient Cham Towers, the vibrant market and lively entrepreneurial Vietnamese that wanted to sell us there goods for 'Only 1 dollar, only 1 dollar!' We enjoyed a relaxing drink at a beachside café before heading back to our ship eager move on to Ho Chi Minh City and explore more of this exciting country.
HO CHI MINH CITY (HCMC - FORMERLY KNOWN AS SAIGON)
The cruise up the Saigon River to Ho Chi Minh City was a great build up to the city visit itself. The large cruise ship was listing from side to side as we squeezed around tight river bends passing local fishermen, small villages and dense jungle growth before arriving into the bustling port in HCMC.
The most well known city in Vietnam and favourite stop for us on the cruise, Ho Chi Minh City was buzzing with people, thousands of motorcycles, history and an energy and excitement that was contagious and for some a bit overwhelming. We rented four Cyclos and drivers for the day to weave us in and out of the insane traffic and take us to see the major sites of the city - War Museum, Reunification Palace, Notre Dame Cathedral, the architecturally stunning Post Office and historic hotels like the Continental and Rex Hotel. The ride in the traffic on the cyclos was one of the best parts of the day and highly recommended for any visitors to HCMC.
On day two in HCMC, Ita and Lionel ventured off for a day trip through the Mekong Delta while Eric and I planning to visit the Delta at a later date chose to wander and enjoy the city by foot taking in the sites and energy it offered. Perhaps the most exciting part of the day was crossing the apparently rule less streets as we took the advice from the ship - "Do not wait for a break in the traffic - it will never come. Instead step out into the traffic, stay together and walk - don't stop, don't run." With a steady stream of vehicles, mostly motorcycles, coming straight for you it was a bit intimidating at first, but was amazing how well it worked. Motorcyclists see the pedestrians noting your pace and swerve around you as you continue to walk to the other side of the street- an absolute thrill and adventure!
SINGAPORE
Singapore is a great city to explore and since Eric and I had already spent 3 days there getting our bearings we were able to tour Ita and Lionel around using their ultra modern and efficient subway system to most of the city highlight - the riverside, a short river cruise, china town, local markets, Orchard Street and finishing off the day with a Singapore Sling at the famed Raffles Hotel. (For more details on Singapore see our previous entry).
KO SAMUI, THAILAND
Thailand is a country with hundreds of islands known for their stunning beaches and clear tourquoise waters and Ko Samui is one of these treasures. We ventured off by taxi to the far side of the island to Chaweng Beach to spend the day in the bronzing our bodies and splashing about in the warm seas. The beach was gorgeous although a bit too busy and developed for our liking but none the less very enjoyable. Ita and Eric did a bit of beach shopping from the vendors and we enjoyed our first delicious Thai meal at an excellent and inexpensive beachside restaurant. A small taste of what we have to come for the many weeks we plan to spend in Thailand.
BANGKOK, THAILAND
The cruise line actually docked almost two hours from Bangkok meaning an incredibly expensive and inconvenient transfer in to the city. For this reason, we booked an excursion from the ship that took us into Bangkok and onto the Chao Phraya River along the main river and back canals that once gave Bangkok the name of Venice of the East. We cruised past quaint canal side homes, floating restaurants and were approached by vendors in their boats filled with goods to sell. Enroute we stopped at Wat Arun a historic temple and the Thai Royal Barges museum. The river and canals were full of life with boats, energy and a buzz that was every bit as busy as the streets and sidewalks we later explored in our afternoon of free time.
It was sad to have the cruise come to an end; a piece of luxury for us before we move more into our budget section of travel throughout the rest of South East Asia. We left the cruise for our hotel in Bangkok where we had one more day with Ita and Lionel before they left to make their long voyage back to Montreal and we continued on to explore Thailand in greater detail.
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