• Scott Kline

Scott & Rob World Cruise 2024

En 123-dags äventyr från Scott Läs mer
  • Rinca Island Komodo IND Feb 29th

    29 februari 2024, Indonesien ⋅ ☁️ 88 °F

    Arrived at Rinca Island Indonesia home of the Komodo National Park. Looking forward to seeing the Komodo Dragons. And it's supposed to be 100⁰ today. I guess the dragons don't mind the heat.
    The tour was just GREAT! The boardwalk and Ranger Guides made sure we were safe from the dragons. We saw numerous dragons from small ones to very large adult dragons. This is the only park / island dedicated to viewing the Komodo Dragons in their native habitat. There is another island, Komodo Island, and these two islands where people can do to see the dragons in the wild.
    We saw all their prey and food. Water buffalo, wild deer, wild pigs, monkeys. It was a lot of fun and the heat was not as bad as you would think...
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  • Bali Indonesia IND Mar 1st

    1 mars 2024, Indonesien ⋅ ☁️ 86 °F

    Our ship arrived in Bali Indonesia this morning.
    We had a nice bus ride through the town to see the local shops and hundreds of scooters that are all along the roads weaving around cars to get where they are going. It seemed like a crazy, unorganized mess but people get around like this here every day.
    We visited an open air market with all kinds of fruits, meats, fish and vegetables. We found some local pastries and Scott had a great time bargaining over the price. They are Cap Mawar Noongan pastries, that look like a small empanada, but are filled with pineapple jam.
    The city is celebrating Ogoh Ogoh, which is a giant puppet festival. These giant puppets are sort of like our parade floats, just that they are of the local folklore and religious characters. This celebration is a national Indonesia celebration and we were just lucky enough to be right there in the middle of it. We actually got into the street full of people waiting for the parade to start with all the giant puppets.
    Our local guide also took us to multiple Hindu temples and small museums and explained the cultural and historical significance of the exhibits. It was very different and a view into a culture very different that what we have experienced and are used to. This area is almost completely Hindu and very different to see the many temples all across the city. It seems that every local neighborhood has its own temple.
    We then made our way back to the ship through the huge traffic jam due to the Ogoh Ogoh celebration. And it's still going on during the weekend that we are in Bali. Kudos to our bus driver who stopped the bus when the street was blocked, got out and moved some motorcycles and mopeds so that the bus could make it down the very crowded street. At the cruise terminal we snagged a bottle of Arak, a local Bali liquor.
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  • Bali Indonesia IND Mar 2nd

    2 mars 2024, Indonesien ⋅ ☁️ 86 °F

    Our second day in Bali was a great and long day...
    In the morning, we hired a service from a local tour guide to take us around to visit Bali. We started out at 7:30 with our guide June and the driver John that was her cousin. We started out at Ubud Royale Palace. What you actually get to see most is their temple next door with a brief glimpse into the actual palace courtyard. After that we went to the Ubud Water Palace Temple. Since it is a palace for the local king and also their shrine, we had to wear a sarong and head ware out of respect. This is the norm for all the local temples when you visit. Our next stop was Kampung Painting. This gallery is a co-op of local Balinese artists. They do traditional Balinese paintings and also different kinds of painting techniques. We found a painting of wildflowers that is an oil painting made by using the painter's trowel to create the flowers and the texture. We posted a picture of the painting. They took the canvas off the frame and rolled it up for the trip home. Then we stopped by our guides favorite restaurant for a bowl of noodles and pork with drink of fresh orange / lime juice. it was just an amazing meal and cost about $2. Our next stop was the hand-made silver store to look at all the extremely intricate jewelry. Most was for women so we did not purchase anything. There was also a museum of all the rare gemstones and their natural, original state so you could see what they start as before becoming jewelry.
    Then back to the ship for an hour before our next excursion.
    This was another temple excursion to Uluwatu Temple. This temple had monkeys that lived in the tree around the structures. They are aggressive and will steal your hat, glasses and they love cell phones. They are very sneaky and will steal your stuff. You have to give them food for fruit to get what they steal back. One lady lost her glasses and we have a picture of it.
    Our last stop was a seafood dinner at a local restaurant, then back to the ship, we got back around 8:30pm.......so it was a long, amazing day!
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  • Bali Indonesia IND Mar 3rd

    3 mars 2024, Indonesien ⋅ ☁️ 86 °F

    Our last day in Bali was a great adventure in the center of the island exploring another temple, the rice patties in a 4x4 Land Rover. There was a big sun roof , and Scott was standing up with his head out of the roof for much of the first half of the excursion.
    We set out to visit one of the families compounds that own some of the rice fields in the area. It was a 1.5 hour drive and along the way we saw the usual Hindu shrines along the road. Each family sets up a shrine in front of the entrance to their house and offerings are made each day of flowers and fruit in a hand woven basket. On the way we had to stop for a local funeral where the people from the village take the deceased person to their ceremonial cremation temple. It was quite a site to see that many people in a group walking the person to their final site of cremation. Afterwards their ashes are spread in the ocean.
    Then on to a temple in the mountains called Pura Luhur Besi Kalung for our guided visit. It was a very ancient 13th century temple. The people from the area that own the rice fields take care of the temple and the grounds. Everyone participates in their own way. Those with money donate money, those without as much donate their time and craftsmanship to take care of the temple grounds and structures. I asked about one corner that we could tell had been renovated and that's when our guide told us about donating money, or in this case, donating their stone masonry and craftsmanship for the temple upkeep.
    We also visited a local family's compound where multiple generations that own the rice fields live together and maintain their fields. They invited us into their home for some breakfast food made of rice and sugar cane. They really were delicious with the very strong coffee they make.
    We then drive up the rain forest winding roads through the rice fields for some great views that we had never seen before. You could see people working the fields. They explained that they let the soil dry out, till it, smooth it, then plant the rice and fill the field with water. The fields are terraced and flat so that they can hold the water and control the level of water since the rice needs to be underwater to grow. They plant 3 shoots which become 20 and each shoot produces about 100 grains of rice. We had lots of great pics from the hills and rice fields going up to the rain forest for our lunch.
    At lunch the weather was fine at first, then we really got to experience a true rain forest. The rain was very heavy and we were glad to have the off road vehicles for the windy and wet road back down.
    On the way back down we ran into a person who had run her vehicle off into a ditch. Our guide asked if it was OK to stop and help and we said it was fine. We used the winch on the front of the 4x4 to help pull the car out and get her on her way.
    Then back to the ship to dry out our clothes and get ready for some time at sea....
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  • Java, Semarang, Indonesia IND Mar 5th

    5 mars 2024, Indonesien ⋅ ☁️ 84 °F

    Today we visited one of the seven wonders of the world - the Borobudur Temple. It is a 9th century Buddhist temple and the largest in the world. As you can tell by the pictures, it is absolutely massive and must have taken a very long time to build.
    There are 4 levels that we could visit. The uppermost level is restricted to the Buddhist monks as their personal temple for living and prayer. Each level is completely surrounded by carvings that tell the story of Buddhism as you walk clockwise around each level, up the stairs and the around each level until you get to the top. Once you reach the top, rounded levels, there are large bell-shaped carvings that each contain a different statue of Buddha.
    It was an extremely impressive temple and we are so glad that we could experience this wonder of the world...
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  • Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam Mar 8th

    8 mars 2024, Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 95 °F

    Our first excursion in Ho Chi Minh City / Saigon was to a Vietnamese Medicine Museum. It is constructed from different ancient houses where the art of medicine evolved over the centuries. Vietnamese medicine is traditional medicine using existing plants, acupuncture and techniques. The museum showed the basic teas, spices and herbs that are used even to modern day as an alternative medicinal approach to what we know as western medicine.
    Then we visited a very traditional Vietnamese market. They had all kinds of coffee, fruits, teas and many 'tourist-ey' things to buy. We did find some Dorian fruit to try and purchased some Jack Fruit. The Dorian fruit is very, very smelly on the outside, but a sweet, sticky fruit on the inside. Scott did not like it at all, but I did. This fruit is forbidden in hotels and on our ship due to the stinky skin you have to peel off before getting to the fruit. We also purchased some Luwak (weasel) coffee. The weasel eats the coffee bean and husk in nature, then digests the outside skin and poops our the coffee bean. This is then cleaned and roasted to sell as the coffee beans that we purchased to try at home. We also bought some flowers for the room, some candies and a few basked goods that we had no idea what they were.
    Then to our final stop, the restaurant. It was an Vietnamese meal of many courses and a lot of food. We had spring rolls, very spicy noodles and fried pork, pumpkin and shrimp soup, grilled chicken and pork with quail eggs and finally a simple desert of watermelon pieces and pieces of dragon fruit.
    On the drive back to the ship, the city was lit up all over with decorative lights on the lamp posts and hotels. It looks very different than in the daylight. And as you can see from the pictures during our way into the city, the traffic is very bad since it's a city of 10 million people. And a LOT of scooters. They call them all 'Hondas' no matter who makes it.
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  • Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam Mar 9th

    9 mars 2024, Vietnam ⋅ ☁️ 97 °F

    Today we had some time on the ship to relax and finalize our African Safari plans.
    Got news when we woke up that My Great Nephew arrived......Happy Birthday Archer James Kimpland!
    We left late afternoon for our excursion with a stop at a really nice restaurant for dinner and then one of the BEST things to see in Vietnam. It is the Golden Dragon Water Puppet Theater. A long time ago when the rural agricultural people were finished with harvesting their rice crops, the rice fields were still full of water and unused. The farmers came up with the idea to use a back drop and puppets made of wood, coconut, bamboo and palm leaves to make puppets and sticks to control them. They would stay behind a bamboo curtain and use bamboo rods to control the 'puppets' to tell a story. They used songs they made up and these puppets to entertain the children and the other farmers in the village. Over the decades this became a tradition in the rural areas. The local Vietnamese people take great pride in this ritual of water puppets and story telling. When the communist government took over Vietnam, they were unable to stop these water puppet shows in the rural areas and they are a great sense of pride and history with the local Vietnamese.
    Luckily we were able to get front row seats with a great view and just a little bit of water...
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  • Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam Mar 10th

    10 mars 2024, Vietnam ⋅ ☁️ 81 °F

    Today we visited the Mekong River Delta. It is about 2 hours from Ho Chi Minh City / Saigon. We boarded a larger boat and took it down the river taking in the sights that are very rural and different from where we had been in the city.
    Along the way we stopped at a local pottery factory where they make pottery bricks, pots and some very large urns. We got into the building via the water, had to walk off the front of the boat onto a concrete ramp up against the building. Very adventurous!
    In the river were larger pieces of floating Water Hyacinth that we avoided in the boat. These are the clumps that the Viet Kong soldiers used to float under to hide during the Vietnam War.
    We stopped at a local restaurant on one of the river's canals for lunch. We had a whole fish (called an Elephant Fish) and rolled our own spring rolls with the fish meat and vegetables. All the food was local and authentic. Had a fruit called a Rose Apple. They also demonstrated how they make their native candy from rice. Scott had the opportunity to demonstrate his skills at popping the rice using a huge wok urn and a giant wooden spoon. Check out the video and his new skill...
    Then back on the boat for a quick trip where we had the opportunity to get onto a small 4-person boat. The Sampan boat was powered by a small Vietnamese woman with 2 very large oars. We took a leisurely ride on the Sam Pan through some very small canal off-shoots. It was just barely out of the water and we had to be careful not to shift around and dump us all in the muddy Mekong River water.
    Then back to the larger boat back to the bus and ship.
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  • Singapore, Singapore Mar 15th

    15 mars 2024, Singapore ⋅ ☁️ 90 °F

    Our first day in Singapore!
    We took the usual tour to get acquainted with the city / country. It has a very different history than most countries. Actually it's the Republic of Singapore and is a city / nation / republic all in one.
    Today's morning tour was Peranakan Culture. The Peranakan (which means native born) came from the Chinese people who came to this city in the 1500's and married with the native Mayla.
    We did a drive and walk of the city. Many of the buildings are from the early 20th century and look like English and French design. With very colorful exteriors that have to be maintained in their original design. We stopped at a little museum with antique furniture and clothing. Also had a chance to taste local food. Had a gelatin kind of desert and rice filled with pork and wrapped in a leaf. After a quick stop at a herb/spice garden we made our way back to the ship.
    Since we were going to the Garden by the Bay in the evening, we just stayed on land rather then go thru the passport check and security to get back in the ship.
    We went to the mall next to the cruise terminal to buy some shirts for our African Safari. The difference is the the Under Armor, Nike, etc. stores are very small compared to what we are used to. We were able to find one shirt each, however the 'sizing' is different. Scott's medium turned into an XL.
    After the mall we took the free shuttle to Gardens by the Bay. It is a park full of man made superstructures that look like trees. Some are actually dome covered and contain plants, flowers and trees from all over the world. There is an indoor water fall. We did not go into them, but enjoyed the sound and light show that they have twice each night. We saw it twice, first showing we were down in under the "trees" so we could hear the music and see the lights from below. Then after grabbing some yummy noodle meals from the food court and doing some shopping, we made our way back towards the shuttle and stopped at an elevated walkway to watch the second light show from above. Nice to see it from both vantage points. Then caught the last shuttle of the night back to the ship. Amazing day!
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  • Singapore, Singapore Mar 16th

    16 mars 2024, Singapore ⋅ ⛅ 81 °F

    Today we ventured out into Singapore on 2 different excursions which lasted all day...
    Our first trip was a cultural tour of the Singapore Museum and our excellent guide narrated the history of Singapore as a country as well as how it evolved and was taken over in the many wars up until the Republic of Singapore that it is today. Learned about the Prime Minister of the 60's thru 80's, Lee Kuan Yew, that inspired the different ethnic groups to work together and embrace each other to be one community. Really inspirational, we need someone like that in the United States! The city has 3 ethnic areas that are from the historic groups that formed Singapore. There is the Arab / Muslim area, Indian and Chinese. We drove through each area and they are similar in that they are small markets with goods and services that each of their people are used to. The difference is that all the people get along together and respect each other.
    We stopped and had another lunch of local food that was just another great meal and experience. It included their signature Red Chili Crab. Then to the Raffles Hotel for a visit to the place that originated the Singapore Sling cocktail.
    Our second excursion of the day was a Night Safari. It is the world's first nocturnal wildlife park. It's very different from a regular zoo since you are able to walk trails through the park and there are natural barriers between you and the animals. Some of the more dangerous ones, like the lions and tigers have actual barriers for obvious reasons. They smaller animals are not harmful. We saw many animals that we had never seen before. The Rhino was being fed just a few feet from us and also the lion. The lion was behind a glass barrier. It was a great time to see all the animals in their natural habitat and not in cages like a normal zoo. Second very long, amazing day in Singapore.
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  • Singapore, Singapore Mar 17th

    17 mars 2024, Singapore ⋅ ☁️ 90 °F

    Today we ventured out on our own for a walk through the city park near the cruise terminal. There are several parks, up above the city, that are connected by various bridges and walkways. Singapore is truly a garden city with millions of trees lining their streets and highways. They have a goal in the next few years to plant another million trees.
    We set out for the walk with the goal to cross the bridge called Henderson Waves. It's a bridge very high above the city in the hills and we actually hiked up many steps to the top of the hill where the aerial gondola connects part of the smaller island with the larger part. There were a lot of steps, we climbed a total of over 600 ft.
    It was a hot humid walk, but a real treasure to experience the hike and bridge over parts of the city. We made it over Henderson Waves and to the terraced gardens in Telok Blangah Hill Park. Saw a White Created Laughingthrasher bird, very unique! We did not do the entire Southern Ridges walk, it is more than 6 miles one way and we did not have the time. Fantastic way to finish up our visit to Singapore.
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  • Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Mar 18th

    18 mars 2024, Malaysia ⋅ 🌩️ 95 °F

    Today we visited two very different places in Kuala Lumpur.
    The first was the oldest pewter manufacturer, Royal Selangor. It was started over 100 years ago by a single man who started making pewter for the local people. He had 4 sons that each started their own pewter manufacturing company. And today, only one still produces pewter for all over the world. They have a special room where we were able to take a pewter disk, put our initial / hallmark on it and use a wooden hammer and a special wooden tool / bowl to pound out our own pewter dish. It was a lot of fun and actually not very difficult. We only made a simple bowl and their actual professional pewter is much more detailed and intricate. We toured the factory and they do not use any form of automation. They pour the pewter into molds to cast it, trim it and polish all the pieces by hand. They demonstrated how a handle for a stein is made and she made it look very easy. They also showed us how they use a special hammer to pound the detailed imprint into a piece. The piece we watched had about 1,400 facets on it - each of which has to be struck twice exactly to make the imprint. We did purchase a coffee or tea urn that the lid is so precisely made that there is not need for a seal. The metal just seals itself.
    Our next stop was the Batu Caves. The caves themselves are about 400 million years old and the limestone cave became a place of worship over time. It was discovered in about 1900 by archaeologists. To this day it still is a place of worship and is called the Temple Cave. The wooden steps were built in the 1920's and before that there were bamboo ladders that worshipers would use to go up and down. Then by 1940 the 272 concrete steps were finished. They are painted in many colors from bottom to the top. In the Temple Cave there are multiple religious shrines and temples for worshipers. There are also many monkeys, the long-tailed macaques around the temple. They are the usual inquisitive and pick-pocket monkeys we have encountered in our travels. One managed to take a key chain off a lady's backpack while she was taking a photo. As you can see, I had a conversation with one of them about not taking any of our stuff...
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  • Langkawi, Malaysia Mar 19th

    19 mars 2024, Malaysia ⋅ ☀️ 93 °F

    Today was a stop at a small island off of the Malaysian mainland. Malaysia has many, many small islands that make up the entire country. Our stop today was a visit to the Mangrove trees and by river kayak. We started out our kayak journey in a 2 person kayak and set off into the river where the mangrove trees grow wild. They are very tall and their roots grow into the sandy ground like spider legs. They have adapted to the salty river water by absorbing the salt water and then concentrating it into one of its leaves in the cluster. That leaf then turns yellow, dies and falls off with all the salt taken with it. This is how they explained that the mangrove trees have adapted to the salt water environment.
    We paddled against the wind for the first half of the trip and then my legs were cramping up in the kayak so we had to get a tow for the trip back. We were able to kayak down a small river full of mangrove trees, but had to turn back since a tree had fallen across the river in their usual route.Unfortunately this kind of put a change into our plans for a day of kayaking.
    Then back to the ship for a much needed shower to get all the salty river water off and rinse out our clothes. Scott will be doing laundry tonight to get our long sleeve UV shirts ready for another outing into the wilds of some other country.
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  • George Town, Penang, Malaysia Mar 20th

    20 mars 2024, Malaysia ⋅ ☁️ 93 °F

    We arrived at George Town, or Penang Island Malaysia early in the morning to dock at the port. The island has a lot of British and Chinese influence from over time. Our guide said that 45% of the population is Chinese. Due to being another trading port in this part of the world, there is a lot of history in the spice trading, and exports from the island
    We took a tour around parts of the island to see the botanical gardens, turtles and monkeys. We walked through the streets to see the vendors and 2 person rickshaw that they call a trishaw. We did not ride in one but others from our ship did experience the pedal powered ride. We were able to see the largest Buddhist temple in Malaysia, Kek Lok Si from the outside. There were many turtles and a waterfall outside. The Chinese believe that the turtle symbolizes longevity in life since they live so long. We visited the Botanical Gardens where there were some wild monkeys. These were not the type that steal things from the tourists.
    In the afternoon we took about a 20 minute walk from the port to a UNESCO historic site that was once a huge palatial home for an extremely wealthy Chinese business man and is now a hotel. It is the Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion, or Blue Mansion. It was constructed before the end of the 19th century. The inside is all feng shui. The Chinese believe that the number 8 is lucky, so there are 28 steps, 8 wrought iron columns 48 stained glass windows 38 rooms and the owner had 8 wives. It was almost demolished for high rise apartments to be built, but was saved by an investor who had it declared a historic site and restored the entire building.
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  • Phuket, Thailand Mar 21st

    21 mars 2024, Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 90 °F

    We arrived at the island of Phuket this morning and today's excursion is a tour of their shrines and temples. Our guide was very good at explaining all the religious meanings, statues and religious meanings of each of the 3 different temples and shrines we visited today. They were all very different since they were of the 3 main religions of Phuket.
    Our first stop was a Buddhist temple that houses a bone fragment belonging to Buddha. The temple is Wat Chalong. To enter the temple we had to remove our shoes.
    Our second stop was the Nakkerd Hill and the huge 145 foot tall statue of Buddha made of pure white marble. We walked up the steps to the massive statue and around it were religious shrines where people could worship and make offerings. There were monkeys here, but none that we encountered or had our usual run-in with.
    We then drove through Phuket's old town area and visited Tien Keng. This is a Chinese shrine at Sapan Hin Park. This temple was multiple buildings and we were able to take our shoes off again and walk into the largest of them. It was a square building with a lot of gold and marble floors. Inside on the top floor was a shrine. The locals pray and perform their rituals and one of the offerings is a gift of fireworks. There is a large brick structure that they fill with the firecrackers and set off about once an hour. It sounded like thousands of firecrackers exploding inside the brick structure that looked like a kiln.
    After our tour we took a local 'Uber' to a restaurant that our guide recommended. Our ride was about $3.50! So much cheaper than at home. The food that I had was a very spicy curry dish and Scott had an orange coffee (coffee with fresh orange juice) after dinner. The orange actually looked like a lime since the skin was green but the taste was orange.
    Then back to the ship for our 2 sea days to Sri Lanka...
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  • Colombo, Sri Lanka Mar 24th

    24 mars 2024, Sri Lanka ⋅ ☁️ 88 °F

    Arriving in Colombo, Sri Lanka at 2 pm in the afternoon.
    Our excursion today was a Central Colombo Walk. We chose this one because it was a walk through the city to get to see what the city and country is like at the street level. The streets were fairly empty since today was a Lunar Holiday and a national holiday. Many of the shops were closed and no alcohol is served.
    We started out in Pettah which is a neighboring suburb of Colombo. It contained the 'Market' which is an area of streets and alleys where all the goods that flow through Sri Lanka are imported, sorted and re-sold for export. Each street contains certain categories of goods. For example there is the gold street, textile, party supplies, electronics, fish, and of course touristy things like knock-off luggage, purses, shirts, shoes, etc. It was interesting and full of a real understanding about the trade of goods through Sri Lanka. There are the 3-wheeled tuk-tuks all over. They are the really cheap local taxis. When we crossed the street our guide said to just walk out slowly and don't make eye contact and they will stop. Well, it does work... If I did this at home I would be in the hospital. And Scott got away from the group for a minute to buy some date bread from a shop. It was really good. I wished we had more time to browse through the shops a little.
    Then we walked back toward Colombo and took in all the Buddhist temples, Mosques and old historic buildings that have unfortunately been abandoned or come under disrepair. However some of them have been restored. Sir Lanka has been conquered by the Portuguese, Dutch and the British. Many of the restored sites are old mansions and government buildings from these nations that took over and build their own government.
    Our last stop was the Galle Face Hotel that was build in the Dutch period and converted to a hotel on the water / beach front in 1894. We had a refreshing mock-tail (since no alcohol can be served today) at the hotel on the veranda overlooking the beach.
    Then back to the ship for another day in Sri Lanka tomorrow.
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