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  • Jim and Nancy Kleinschmidt

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A 181-day adventure by Jim and Nancy Read more
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  • Jim and Nancy KleinschmidtWorld CruiseJim and Nancy Kleinschmidt

    Nukuaalofa, Tonga

    January 23, 2015 in Tonga ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    We kayaked out to one of the beautiful little islands in the surrounding reef of Nukua'alofa Tonga called Pangaimotu. This is the perfect little cruisers hangout. It has a great bar and good anchorage and pretty beaches. The town itself was also nice. The market was very large and had a lot of great local crafts. Since tourism is not that big a deal on the island most of the shops were for the local people. It was very pleasant and the locals were friendly and most spoke English so you could get around easily enough. It is not an island I would really have any interest in going back to unless I was on my own boat but it was good to see.
    We found out yesterday from the captain that we escaped Tahiti in the nick of time. If you remember I said we had some bad weather the night we left but it smoothed out by morning in Bora Bora. That bad weather turned into a tropical storm and eventually became the first cyclone of the season. It is not chasing us though so no worries here. It is calm and sunny and pretty perfect and we should have a good sail to Noumea, New Caledonia tonight. I don't have any pictures to post because we are getting really jaded to the physical beauty around us and we don't even pull the camera out any more. I think Jeff has some though so I will try to get some up later.    Read more

  • Jim and Nancy KleinschmidtWorld CruiseJim and Nancy Kleinschmidt
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    Noumea, New Caledonia

    January 27, 2015 in New Caledonia ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    We are now in the bustling metropolis of Noumea. Actually it really is a bustling metropolis. New Caledonia mines most of the nickel in the world so they are a very rich island. The downtown is very pretty and the shops and restaurants are plentiful. We unfortunately were there on a Monday which seems to be their day for all the tourist stuff to be closed so the museums and the aquarium were all closed up. We walked over the a great little beach called Lemon Bay or Baie des Citron as they call it here. We went past some very modern marinas full of boats of all sizes and shapes. The bay the cruise ship came into was filled with cruising boats. I suspect this must be a little off the main cyclone path for there to be so many cruisers during the season but I haven't checked that out.
    We did a little shopping along the way. I needed a new light weight shirt for sun protection and found a great little sporting goods store that had Columbia stuff that was just a little more expensive then REI in the states. Jeff needed a full length skin to keep him from burning during snorkeling and found it at another dive shop just off the main "Chinatown" in the downtown area. The snorkeling was great just by swimming off the beach to the coral outcroppings.
    The island is huge and I can see this would be a fun island to explore more in-depth. We should come back when we have more time. The nice thing about cruising on a ship is you don't stay too long in any one place so that the ones you don't like much are left without too much of a bad taste and the ones you really like you are left wanting to come back again.    Read more

  • Jim and Nancy KleinschmidtWorld CruiseJim and Nancy Kleinschmidt

    Sydney, New South Wales

    January 29, 2015 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    We spent the night bouncing up and down in 15 to 20 foot seas with 40+ knots of wind getting into Sydney. As soon as we crossed the headlands the seas calmed and we were met with one of the most beautiful harbors in the world. The city sits on a hill at around the corner and as you wind your way around the turns of the bay the city reveals itself slowly until you finally see the iconic Opera House and bridge with the sun shining on them. We couldn't have had a more pleasant entrance to Sydney. The boat is docked past the bridge overlooking the Darling Harbor side and we have to take a short shuttle bus ride to the city center. We went in and started our tour of the city by walking the Botanical Gardens starting at the Opera House and walking up to Hyde park and then around the city back to the Rocks. We found a great little place to get a beer and a burger on the roof of pub in the Rocks overlooking the harbor. Later we had a harbor tour and then dinner at the Opera House with an aboriginal welcome dance followed by the opera "Tosca". It was quite fun. The Opera House has the english translation of the words on a screen above the stage so it turned out to be fascinating and very beautiful to hear as well as fun to actually understand what was going on. We had a similar setup in St. Petersburg, Russia when we went to see Madame Butterfly there but the translation was in Russian so we were no better off then listening to the Italian. :-)
    Back to the ship at night. I will post another for tomorrow since we are there another day and have lots of pictures.    Read more

  • Jim and Nancy KleinschmidtWorld CruiseJim and Nancy Kleinschmidt

    Sydney, New South Wales

    January 30, 2015 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    Second day at Sydney and we were exhausted from walking yesterday. We figured we walked about 12 miles on the VivoFit bracelets that Jeff and Ali have. Today it was off the Manly on the north end of the harbor to the beach there. The ferry from the main terminal "Circular Quay" was about $13 dollars round trip. Manly is a great little town/community that is on a bay with a large beach and a lot of little beaches around the larger inlet. The surf was really up from the gale force winds out in the ocean so the surfers were having a great time and it was very dramatic. We walked up the headlands in the National Park and got lost on the trail and finally found our way to the campus of a small college that used to be some prominent persons house in the area. We wondered the grounds and then down into town to eat at some natural food bar. We are so used to the small portions on the ship that we can barely eat a meal even when we split it when we go out. The dinner that we had at the Opera House was catered by one of the local area restaurants and was way to much food for us.
    The ferry ride back from Manly turned into a amusement park ride. The waves coming into the entrance were coming in straight from the ocean and hitting an outgoing current and standing up very tall. We had a two deck ferry and the at one point we turned into the waves and they were much higher then the boat. We got launched over one of the waves and everyone on board screamed just like a roller coaster as the boat came crashing back down into the face of the wave. Water didn't quite get into the upper deck where we were but I don't think anyone could have been standing on the outside deck below us.
    Rest of the day was spent walking the downtown and then having a fantastic dinner before we got the the worst of the waves. It looks to be a bad one tonight.    Read more

  • Jim and Nancy KleinschmidtWorld CruiseJim and Nancy Kleinschmidt

    At Sea

    January 31, 2015, Tasman Sea ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    I was right. It was a bad one last night. 20 foot seas directly ahead and 40+ knot winds meant that we were holding onto the walls to get around. We decided that the better solution was just to drink heavily and then we didn't really know if we were staggering because of the boat or the drink. It seemed to work. No one got sick and we made it to bed and as of now no one has fallen off the bed yet. We were out briefly but laying down seems to be the most stable position so at least until lunch that seems to be the plan.Read more

  • Jim and Nancy KleinschmidtWorld CruiseJim and Nancy Kleinschmidt
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    Melbourne, Australia

    February 1, 2015 in Australia ⋅ 🌧 17 °C

    Calm at last as we sailed into Philips Bay to the Port of Melbourne. We walked a lovely 3-4 miles or so into the city center and then took the free circular tram around the town to see what we wanted to see. That is the one thing that is really nice about Australia. All the cities have a free bus or ferry system around the downtown to encourage walking and not taking your car into town. The city is great and has a vibrancy like Sydney but more of a cultural feel. The architecture is funky and very eclectic and there is art everywhere. The downtown is great with a broad river walk full of life and energy as well as cool buildings. Economist magazine has named the city the "Most Livable City" for like 4 years straight and we could see why.
    We ate lunch at a little Italian restaurant that was packed at 2:00 in the afternoon so we knew it had to be good. We had the best pizza that any of the 4 of us had ever tasted. We have all been to Italy but clearly got better Italian food in Australia. How would have "thunk it".
    The rest of the afternoon found us doing a little shopping in some of the best dressed shopping "malls" we have found. Ali found shoes but Nancy didn't. Miracles still happen! Unfortunately I did so I made up for it. :-)
    Of course Jeff and I couldn't always agree where we were. :-) (see pic below)
    We left Melbourne in a little better weather. We ended up walking around 15 miles all day so we went straight to the bar before any of us even went to the room for fear we would never get out. Needless to say the 10:00 show was out. All in all a great day and probably our favorite city in Australia.    Read more

  • Jim and Nancy KleinschmidtWorld CruiseJim and Nancy Kleinschmidt

    Adelaide, Australia

    February 3, 2015 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    Adelaide was a very nice city. It has all of Australia's charm but without the unique features that make Melbourne and Sydney world class cities. The one thing it does have is the best indoor market that we have ever seen. Almost a whole block of the neatest little shops with fabulous fruits, veges, meats and just about any other thing you would need at the store back home. If we lived here this would be a daily or every other day trek just to pick up fresh whatever for dinner.
    They also have a very nice botanical garden. It rivals the bigger cities mainly because the trees are so old and majestic. The whole city is planned with parks around the central business district and the gardens are one of those so it is a very pleasant place to be.    Read more

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    Port Lincoln, Australia

    February 4, 2015 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    Port Lincoln is just across the bay from Adelaide and is a much more "frontier" town then Adelaide. It fashions itself as the "Seafood Capital of Australia" and houses the main tuna fishing fleet. The fishing boats go out into the Southern Ocean off the coast and find the big schools of tuna and corral them with nets. Then instead of bring them in they haul the nets out of the ocean to the bay around Port Lincoln where they feed the tuna and, I suppose, wait for the price to go up and then harvest then for sushi in Japan mainly. It is a very interesting operation and you can actually get in the pens and swim with the tuna. They say the nets not only keep the tuna in but the great white sharks out which does seem to be a plus since they are also famous for their great whites. You can swim with them in cages if you want as well. Needless to say Nancy did not do any of these and while I did want to cage dive with the sharks time did not permit us to do it on this trip so maybe next time. :-)
    They are also famous for some horse that was kind of like our Sectretariat called Mykabe Diva. They also train some of their horses on the long beach in the front of town. We saw the one below doing "wind sprints" down the beach and then cooling off in the ocean water.    Read more

  • Jim and Nancy KleinschmidtWorld CruiseJim and Nancy Kleinschmidt

    Fremantle, Australia

    February 7, 2015 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    Our last port in Australia was much like the others, vibrant, young, clean, and easy to see yourself living in. Fremantle is really just a small suburb of Perth but has a life of it's own since 1987 when the America's Cup was sailed here for the first time outside of the US. The maritime museum has the original Australia II that won the cup, with it's innovative winged keel, and brought it to Australia. The town was built up for that event and has been thriving since by being a growing economic port on the Indian Ocean where the rich mineral deposits of Western Australia get shipped to the rest of the world.
    We liked it because we got to stay overnight and on Saturday the downtown was a hopping place. Everyone in Perth seemed to be there but even though the outside cafes and restaurants were packed there were these great little alleys and courtyards with a little less hectic pace. We found one of these and followed our nose to a great Indian restaurant when one of the staff that we like quite a bit came running out to say hi and tell us about the great food in this place. He is from India and said he has eaten Indian food all around the world and this was the best he has had. Needless to say it didn't take much to convince us to stay.
    The town was just as nice in the daytime even though the prison was the main tourist attraction other then the natural beauty of the harbor and land. Prison and prisoners seem to play such an important part of the settling and development of so much of Australia you can see why the people see themselves as a "rugged lot". They have an independence and kindness that is distinct to this country and we were sorry to see Australia go away behind us. The next leg is going to be a bit different and we are looking forward to seeing a part of the world we have never been in nor have much knowledge of. Bali is the next stop three days away.
    If you are reading this and not also following Ali just look under who we are following and read her account of the trip as well.    Read more

  • Jim and Nancy KleinschmidtWorld CruiseJim and Nancy Kleinschmidt

    Benoa, Bali

    February 12, 2015 in Indonesia ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    We pulled into Bali not really knowing what to expect so we booked a tour of the temples and Orchid gardens. We were glad we did because it was quite the culture shock to see the very busy cities and countryside of this beautiful country. The country is largely (97%) Hindu but is part of Indonesia which is largely Muslim. The people live predominantly in compounds with other family members in a very strict organization. Each group of the extended family in the compound has their own temple and the ritual offering of small amounts of food, etc on a daily basis seems to be similar to the Christian tradition of prayer before meals. They have a large number of public temples for celebrating the frequent festivals. While the conditions would seem fairly spare by our standards the people were not poor and modern conveniences seemed to be plentiful if just not needed as much in the fairly stable weather and warm climate of the area.
    Rice is the food staple and there is no prettier site then the terraced rice patties all along the road. We went to two temples that were very old. One was a beautiful one out on a rock in the ocean that unfortunately has developed a fairly thriving tourist enclave around the entrance that detracted from the majesty of the two actual structures. The other was in a smaller community outside the main town and was done much more like a park and was quite nice.
    We then went to an orchid garden that benefited from the large amount of rain they get every year and since it is the "rainy season" we of course got to see it in all it's glory. Of course Jeff and I couldn't help but try some of the Lewok coffee that is made from the coffee beans that are gathered from the civit cat's poop. At about $600 per kilo we didn't feel the need to buy any but the little sip we got was pretty good.
    Nancy of course couldn't help but try the local dance.    Read more

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    Semarang, Indonesia

    February 14, 2015 in Indonesia ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    Borobudur was the reason for this stop in Semarang Indonesia on the island of Java. The city was mainly just a large modern city but we were able to take a bus trip up into the mountains to a restored Buddist temple called Borobudur. It is huge and was built in the 700-800 AD but abandoned and found under volcanic ash and jungle in the 1800's. It was restored by essentially taking every one of the 1.6 million stones apart and putting them back together over a concrete foundation with good drainage. Each of the intricate bas relief panels tells a story of the search for Nirvana as you ascend the levels of the temple. It is quite remarkable and we were really glad we made the pilgrimage to see it.
    Java is not quite as populated as Bali, at least not in the rural areas but there are still a lot of people for the little island to support. There is a big push toward family planning and it seems to be making some headway but it does bump up against the more conservative Muslim elements of the society. The area is also poorer then Bali and the homes not as elaborate but they benefit from the relatively wonderful weather and a better road system. Most people on both of the islands we have seen drive motorcycles/mopeds. Even one delivering furniture with a chest loaded on the back of the bike and driving swerving in and out of traffic. It would not be good for a western driver to rent a car in either country and take off. We had to just shut our eyes on the bus at times as both lanes and the center line were used for traffic. :-)
    See the next footprint with pics of the temple itself.    Read more

  • Jim and Nancy KleinschmidtWorld CruiseJim and Nancy Kleinschmidt

    Semarang, Indonesia

    February 14, 2015 in Indonesia ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    We just put this in to hold some of the pictures of the temple. There are hundreds of Buddhas around the temple. They have a different pose on each of the sides that face directly to the East, West, North and South. The bas relief carvings go around everyone of the 4 levels of the temple telling the story of one of the monks that achieved Nirvana and his journey to get there. The top levels have these cool bell looking structures seen on the last footprint that each have a Buddha sitting inside. You can see the restoration difficulties of matching each of those stones back in place after taking them out from the top. They supposedly did 1/4 of the temple at a time.Read more

  • Jim and Nancy KleinschmidtWorld CruiseJim and Nancy Kleinschmidt

    Muara, Brunei Darussalam

    February 17, 2015 in Brunei ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    The sultanate of Brunei was quite a place. The Sultan is one of the richest men in the world since her was able to keep all the oil in this oil rich country while the rest of the island of Bornea joined Malaysia when that country formed. He keeps people pretty happy with free health care and education but runs things without a parliament or council elected by the people. They do get part of the oil profits so they don't seem to complain too much. :-)
    The Muslims have Sharia law but those infidels like us just have the regular law to live by although when they instituted Sharia here they prohibited alcohol so you either have to bring your own or form a private social club on your own property to drink. The guide says the nightlife went way downhill after that was passed. :-) It reminded me of my college days in a "dry" county in Arkansas. We had to run to another county and they have to run to another country.
    We had a special dinner at the Prince's "over the top" Polo Club complete with local dance and singing. I am officially tired of the music of Indonesia. :-) The food is still okay though.
    Yes the 29 spheres on the top of the towers of that mosque are real gold leaf and the pinnacle on top is solid gold. Some 14 million of so from the guides estimate. There are jewels embedded in the tiles in walls of the mosque that according to the locals are yours if they fall off on their own and you find them. I suspect that if you found prying them out you could be killed so it is kind of a lottery system. :-)    Read more

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    Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia

    February 18, 2015 in Malaysia ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    This is a cool town in the region known as Sabah. Nancy and I have decided to do a river rafting trip into the "jungles of Borneo" which turned out to be pretty fun even though it was fairly tame since there hasn't been any rain in a couple weeks. The rainforest in Borneo is gradually going away so it was at least good to see some of it. Brunei has preserved most of theirs but Malaysia was slow to get in front of the British when they were buying up the trees and stuff so they have some catching up to do. They are taking it seriously though as I think they are realizing that when the oil runs out if they don't have ecotourism they may not have any economy at all in the outer regions so hopefully that will stop the destruction. This is the home of the orangutan and their face is plastered on everything. They are pretty cute. We didn't get away enough to see any in the wild but this could be a place to make a real "back county" trek into some time in the future.
    This picture is of Nancy looking for snakes. :-)    Read more

  • Jim and Nancy KleinschmidtWorld CruiseJim and Nancy Kleinschmidt

    Haikou, China

    February 21, 2015 in China ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    We are in the land of Mao officially now. We made landfall in Haikou China. A "Special Administrative Area" of China proper. It is an island town of about 2.5 million people. The island is the vacation island for the Chinese within China since it is the only really "tropical" area in the country. We didn't make it down to the beach area. We just had a short stay in the city. Some used it to shop but we just walked around the town and found this great little park. The local people were doing different group things that were like dancing or exercise but also there were many little areas where people were just ballroom dancing. Couples all over 5-6 at a time spinning and weaving to a foxtrot or Cha-cha. There was also a great little exercise area where everyone was pulling, pushing, swinging, rubbing against or spinning on different exercise devices that look like a giant playground for adults. It was very nice to see.
    We or course stood out like a sore thumb. Jeff and I are taller by a head then most of the men and my ponytail and Jeff's mop were easy to find in the crowd. The local people would send there kids out to have a picture taken with "the Americans". It made us not feel guilty at all of all the pictures we were taking of them. :-) it was all pretty fun but you definitely feel your "minority" status when you can't read any of the signs, don't have any of the local money and are entirely dependent on the guide on the shuttle bus to tell you where you are.    Read more

  • Jim and Nancy KleinschmidtWorld CruiseJim and Nancy Kleinschmidt

    Hong Kong, China

    February 22, 2015 in Hong Kong ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    This was long anticipated and lived up to it's reputation as the commerce capital of the world. You could truly buy anything in Hong Kong and it seemed that during the Chinese New Year the many tourists from China were doing just that. We came in to a rather foggy day but it cleared a little during the day and we got to see the sights from the upper deck of the bus going from Stanley to the Central city. The public buses are $1 and have an upper deck that can be like a thrill ride as the driver zips around the turns of the winding roads going over the mountain. From the to you look down on the water below without the benefit of seeing the road or anything below you. It can be a little harrowing.
    The local markets have a lot of cheap stuff that is not just inexpensive but also cheap. The shopping malls on the other hand (of which we are told there are 48 "major" malls in the city) carry everything that has a name brand on it. The window displays show jewelry that have US$200,000 price tags. I am assuming that if you want to buy some of the things in the window that cost more then that and didn't have price tags you had to actually talk to a sales person. :-) The real estate is also quite expensive. The photo below is of a small apartment in the city of about 500 sq ft for a little over $833,000 US. Needless to say we didn't get the summer place we were thinking about when we went shopping. :-)
    Where all this money is coming from is amazing but they get almost as many tourists as the US does every year so it comes from somewhere.
    One night we took the subway to the area called the "night market". I suspect this is what people think of when they think of Hong Kong. It was busy and alive but most of the food hanging on racks in restaurants were unidentifiable to westerners and the general atmosphere said "seedy" although it seemed to be very safe as well. We walked the back alleys in some of the areas without too much concern. We were not brave enough to sit down for a dinner of chicken feet and duck tongue (or at least that is what we thought it was). :-)
    All in all a great two day stop. I have never seen as many people in one place as we did in the temple we went to on the last day of the New Years celebration. We went to one of the lower end areas where it was mainly public housing but the temple there got about 100,000 a day during the New Year so it was a pilgrimage of sorts for the Hong Kong people. It is a Buddist/Tao temple but is sort of non denominational in that just about al the religions come to pray/wish for good luck for the coming year . It was crowded and smoky but it was very interesting to just watch people. Plus we got to rub the foot of the statue for our year sign (I am a rat and Nancy is a dog) so we should have good luck all year. :-)    Read more

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    Danang, Vietnam

    February 25, 2015 in Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    After a day at sea to recuperate from Hong Kong Nancy and I set off on an adventure to Cambodia to see the temples of Angkor Wat. After a half day tour of Danang we ate at the famous China Beach (see me with the local fishing boats). This was a popular R&R place for soldiers on the front lines in the Vietnam War (or as they call it the American War). It is a beautiful beach and is just in the shadows of an interesting little mount of rocks called "Marble Mountain" where it turns out that many of the Viet Cong holed up in the caves of that mountain.
    The airport in Danang was once the busiest airport in the world during the war and still has some of the hangers that were built for the helicopters in use today as part of the airport operations.
    We flew out of there to Seim Riep Cambodia.    Read more

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    Siem Reap, Cambodia

    February 26, 2015 in Cambodia ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    We are in central Cambodia. It was Nancy's desire to see the famous Angkor Wat temple. The largest religious monument/building in the world was built in the 4th or 5th century as a Hindu temple by the early Kymer kings that probably migrated from India. They slowly transitioned to Buddhism and now it seems to supply both followers with plenty of religious artifact to be happy. We say Buddhist monks there in the traditional orange robes (we were wondering if they had seen "Orange is the New Black"). They of course like all tourists were caught not only in the lotus position meditating but also taking pictures with their smartphones of the Buddhas around the temple.
    It was pretty cool to see. It, unlike Borabadur in Indonesia, has been in constant use since being built including housing a large contingent of the Khmer Rouge during the Cambodian civil war that lasted until 1995. They still think that there are up to 5 million land mines still active in the north part of the country. 1 in every 360 people have a limb missing due to land mines and the country is a very young country since so many of its adults were killed. It also is in need of specialists since it appears that the Khmer Rouge killed everybody that had much education or any ties to the West in their effort to reestablish the agrarian society of the past.
    Because of this it appears that many countries are stepping up and taking over parts of the restoration and preservation of the temple complex while Cambodia gets the ability to manage it themselves. Germany, Japan and others all have teams there helping the Cambodians manage the onslaught of tourism and growth that is occurring in the area. I hope they can manage it because it appears to be growing at a pace that any country would have difficulty keeping up with.    Read more

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    Angkor Wat, Cambodia

    February 27, 2015 in Cambodia ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    Just a footprint to post some more pictures of the "other" temples in the Angkor Wat complex. The gate is the gate to Angkor Thom which is the biggest of the areas and encloses some 9 sq kilometers. IT has a neat temple in it called Bayun that has towers or stupa that have faces carved into all four sides. There are dozens of these and many still in pretty good shape. This temple was actually not in continual use and the jungle encroached more on it then Angkor Wat.
    The one with the tree growing in it is Ta Phram and was the site of something in Tomb Raiders as the locals all remember Angelina Jolie's visit to the area (but then who wouldn't) . :-) The temple now is being invaded by these huge trees that have sent their roots deep into the structure of the temple. The one I am showing has fairly small roots compared to the others. They can't get rid of the trees without destroying the temple and the trees themselves are much of the attraction so they are trying to stabilize everything so it won't get worse.    Read more

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    Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

    February 28, 2015 in Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 33 °C

    Back in Vietnam in the old Siagon. We are in a port along the Siagon River within walking distance to a very crowded and active town. We went out for food and just had to ask the waitress to pick something that locals would eat. She was great and she would bring us the food and then show us how to eat it. Since everything seemed to have a wrap or sauce or soup that was very helpful. It was delicious and cheap and we walked through town in the evening.
    The town is mainly motorcycles and taxis and hardly any cars. They are expensive and taxed heavily and there is no place to park so motorcycles are the means of transport. To cross the street you can never get the intersection clear so you just wait until things thin a little and then start walking. If you maintain a slow and steady pace the motorcycles just weave around you and you eventually get to the other side. If you look at the traffic you will panic and stop or move too suddenly and are more likely to get hit so slow and steady is the key. Needless to say for 4 Americans that took some getting used to and having 20 bikes roar past you while crossing a big intersection can beat any amusement park ride any day. :-)
    There is a downside. We were informed there were pickpockets and were pretty careful but once we wandered into a part of town that was a little less crowed and during that street crossing adventure one of the bikes acted like they were going to hit us and caused us to jump a bit and while they slid past Ali they grabbed her purse and just jerked it right off her neck. They were gone before she realized what happened. Fortunately she didn't have much of value and no credit cards but it was a little bit of a wake up call to watch what we are carrying.
    Overall a fairly enjoyable experience and a nice enough city with some pretty places like the temple below. I can't imagine living here though in the crush of people that were always present. That is not something commonly said by us as we seem to always leave an area with plans for a longer stay in the future sometime. Next stop Bangkok.    Read more

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    Bangkok, Thailand

    March 3, 2015 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 33 °C

    Two days in Bangkok went pretty fast. Nancy and I were a touch under the weather from our adventures abroad the first day so we hung around a modern toilet facility for the day. :-) We were fine the next day though and got a taste of how it feels to be in a city a little too small for the number of people that live in it. We toured the amazing Royal Palace with buildings right out of "The King and I". Each little temple or pagoda was a sight in itself but they were just one on top of the other to make a truly remarkable visit.
    The downside was we were carried along the street outside the palace to our bus not by our feet but just by the momentum of the mass of people pushing along the sidewalks. Fortunately we did not lose each other or our belongings and were able to see the rest of the this large modern city.
    The traffic congestion was bad as here it seems everybody has gone to cars unlike Ho Chi Minh City where they chose motorscooters. I imagine that the streets of Ho Chi Minh City would be just as bad if they had chosen cars or possibly worse. Then again Bangkok would probably seem easy to get around if they had encouraged scooters. The amazing thing was that there was little public transportation and not many people walk anywhere. They take cabs that are very cheap or camp out in the car on the congested streets.
    All in all a good time but there was a feeling that we missed our opportunity to see Bangkok when it was truly a Thai city and not a modern metropolis. Singapore next and Ali's "Birthday Week". We will be exhausted by the end of it.
    One of the pics is of the brightly colored tugs that pull barges along the river. Notice the fairly nice water homes in the background with electricity and Dish satellites.    Read more

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    Singapore

    March 5, 2015 in Singapore ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    We had quite the surprise on our trip to Singapore. Ali's birthday was the day we arrived and we had already made plans to visit a friend, Mark who agreed to take us around Singapore and out to eat on Ali's birthday night. He arrived and we were excited to see him and also excited to turn the decision making over to him because we were exhausted from figuring out the last few big cities.
    He took us to a great restaurant named Jumbo's for their special Chili and Black Pepper Crabs. The surprise of the evening turned out to be when his parents Zip and Phyllis showed up from Woodstock to surprise Ali. We had a great and emotional dinner and a great next day with Mark showing us all the sights of Singapore. Zip and Phyllis had been keeping their trip a secret even to point of emailing Ali and telling her how bad the weather was in Woodstock all the while they were vacationing in Singapore, Bali and Bangkok. It made the trip very special for everyone.
    Singapore is a great city. It was probably the cleanest, most efficient city we have ever seen. No traffic, even during rush hour, easy public transit. Cheap taxies. What more could you want. :-) It did feel a little sterile though. Kind of like a really big Disney World with 7 million employees? We could definitely live here although traveling outside the actually city would be needed to realize not everyone has it this nice.    Read more

  • Jim and Nancy KleinschmidtWorld CruiseJim and Nancy Kleinschmidt

    Port Klang (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)

    March 7, 2015 in Malaysia ⋅ ⛅ 33 °C

    A pleasant surprise awaited us in Kuala Lumpur or KL as everyone calls it. it is the capital of Malaysia and a very cosmopolitan city. Since we have hardly heard of it we approached it with no expectations whatsoever. We got a cab for $85 to take us the hour into KL and show us around. A nice Muslim chap named Fisal who spoke pretty good English took us around and waited for us to see the Petronus Towers, go up the KL tower to see the entire city and walk around the old city. He even took us into the museum and gave us a history lesson of the old city and how Malaysia started. We then went to the Central Market for the traditional eating of food we have no idea what it is. :-) Then we did a little shopping. Nancy and Ali look quite good in there Malaysian attire and I got a nice white collarless shirt so that I would fit in as well. He gave us a premier on life in KL as well.
    It was an interesting city as it had a lot of aspects of Singapore in that the main business district was quite pristine and looked very unlived in. It differed though in that it still had a little of the rougher Chinatown area that contained some of the more gritty parts of the city. It didn't look dirty or dangerous just like life was going on there. I hope KL can maintain that balance as they grow. They are growing fast though so it may be hard. They have got a good start.
    The one picture shows the juxtaposition of the old architecture with the Petronus and KL tower in the background. We also just had to stop by and take a picture of a temple. We are in Southeast Asia afterall.    Read more

  • Jim and Nancy KleinschmidtWorld CruiseJim and Nancy Kleinschmidt

    Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia

    March 8, 2015 in Malaysia ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    Another surprise after the modern KL to see Penang Island or Pulua Pinang as it is now called maintain so much of it's colonial heritage. Penang was a British colony and once capital of the "Straits Settlements" that housed much of Malaysia until Singapore got going strong. It then kind of decreased in importance and because of that the Japanese didn't do much to harm it in WWII and they haven't felt the need to tear down every old building in favor of a new high rise like Hong Kong or Singapore. What is left is a neat little city that maintains it's neighborhoods and little restaurants and bars on the street and in the suburbs they have developed more modern apartments and buildings leaving the city much as it stood 100 years ago. The Little India section was fantastic and we are still recovering from the curry smells coming out of every shop. We are also recovering from the site at the market where the live chickens were being slaughtered. Nancy and Ali did not really need to see that. They have been eating vegetarian since. :-)
    The only downside is the heat. 96 and humid makes for short walks and since we left before dark I suspect we missed a lot of the life of the city although we would have probably had "people overload" if there were any more walking the streets. All in all a great little city and one that should be on everyone's list of things to see if ever in the area.
    See even the dogs a looking for a cool place. :-)    Read more

  • Jim and Nancy KleinschmidtWorld CruiseJim and Nancy Kleinschmidt

    Phuket, Thailand

    March 9, 2015 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 33 °C

    We were unable to get a spot on the boat out to the islands today so took advantage of our exhaustion and just did some souvenir shopping here at the port. The town was a little touristy and we didn't feel like negotiating with the obnoxious taxi drivers for a ride around the island so it turned out fine. The ships trip out of the port through some of the little islands was a nice look at the beauty of the area and we wished we had several days to explore the offshore areas and the beautiful beaches. We are heading into the beach area with stops in the Maldives and Seychelles so didn't feel too bad about missing this opportunity. We got some great little souvenirs. I did pass on the $20 Rolex (real gold and diamonds) since I knew I would probably need one of those Apple watches when we got home. :-) Nancy got some nice silk tops and a purse though. It was always interesting when we got to a place like this and saw the same tags we had in our clothes at home. I was wearing a Columbia shirt that said "Made in Thailand" and so were our "authentic" souvenirs. Does that make my Columbia shirt a Thai souvenir? If so we have souvenirs from Bali, Vietnam and China all throughout our closet. :-)Read more

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