Sihanoukville, Cambodia

JOHM RIAB SUA—Meaning Hello from Cambodia.  Today is March 9, 2011 and our port of call is Sihanoukville the natural waterway of the Mekong Delta, leading to the interior of Cambodia.  This city was built in 1964 during the Vietnam War to give the country an alternative gateway in and out of the country by sea.  It is a pretty but small town where Buddhist temples are the main attractions.  More than that, Sihanoukville is the drop off point for passengers who will be doing the multiple day overland tour to Angkor Wat. 

After the ship was cleared by the local authorities, we caught one of the shuttle buses to the downtown area about 3 miles from the pier.  We decided to do the touring today on our own utilizing one of the local Tuk Tuks.  These are motorbikes which are hitched up to a two-wheeled passenger carrier.  After fighting our way off of the shuttle and though what looked like over a hundred Tuk Tuk drives, we made our way out to one of the streets.  There we were able to begin negotiating for a 2-hour tour to the temples and the city.  The prices were all over the board, but we finally came to a deal and headed out of the city center.  Actually, travelling by Tuk Tuk is much better than any tour bus.  It’s cooler and affords you the opportunity to take photos without trying to shoot them through a bus window.   

Off we went on our tour stopping first at Wat Krom known as the Lower Temple.   This Buddhist temple cares for many orphans, handicapped, and elderly people and is manned and managed my Monks.  Many of the orphans were selling their handmade crafts on the temple grounds.  From there we ventured higher up Mount Sihanouk to Wat Leu known as the Upper Temple which overlooks the port and town offering sweeping views of the coastline and the Gulf of Thailand.  We wondered the temple grounds and were lucky enough to meet some very nice people.  They were preparing chicken and an older women had started the kitchen fires for the lunch time meal.  We asked about the restroom facilities and were escorted to the typical hole in the floor known as a squatter or two footer.  We were reminded to take a bucket of water and use that water afterward.  When they advise you on the ship to travel with toilet paper they REALLY mean it.  

Back on the Tuk Tuk we toured all around the city passing the Independence Monument, the Vietnam Cambodia Monument, the Angkor Brewery, the Golden Lions Monument, resorts and beaches.   Then it was time for some fun walking the indoor Psar Lu Market.  There you can buy just about anything from fresh fruit, vegetables, fish, dry goods, jewelry, etc., etc., etc.  Out on the streets you can find gasoline in soda bottle or have your shoes repaired or shined. 

Our day ended back at the pier and we reboarded the ship and prepared for our departure at 4:00pm.  Next stop in the morning is Laem Chabang, Thailand (Bangkok).            

So it’s LIA SUHN HAO-Y-Meaning Goodbye from Cambodia.

Lombok, Indonesia

It’s been a few days since we last posted to the blog.  Since then there has been several things which have occurred.  On the evening of Wednesday, March 2^nd at around 7:30pm the Australian Coast Guard did an emergency helicopter medical evacuation from our ship.  The ship’s crew prepared the ship in advance of the helicopter’s arrival.  The evacuation went well and from what we are hearing, the evacuated passenger is stable.

Yesterday, March 5, 2011, at around 8:00am the Pacific Princess arrived in Lembar Harbor off the coast of Lombok Island, Indonesia. It is a short 20 miles away from Bali across the Lombok Strait.  Lombok resembles how Bali would have looked some 40 years ago.  Lombok is like taking a walk back in time.  The island is beautiful with lush palm trees, white beaches, rice fields, mountain ranges and volcanoes.  Mount Rinjani, Indonesia’s second highest peak is one of those volcanoes that towers 12,000 feet over the island.    Over 90 percent of the population of the island is Muslim. 

We decided to take one of the ship’s tours which was called Senggigi On Your Own.  We boarded our motor coach for the approximate 1-hour drive north from Lembar, passing through Mataram to Senggigi Beach.  This is a premier destination that boasts over six miles of superb white-sand beach.  The drive north was very interesting and surprising to say the least.  We saw the primary taxi on the island.  This taxi is a modified Lambretta which is pulled by a horse.  These would have as many as 8 people loaded into them.  But one of the most interesting aspects of our trip to the beach was the rice production that was taking place in the fields.  People were cutting the rice stalks and then beating them to remove the rice.  Once the rice was removed, it was placed on the roadways to begin the drying process.  As it dried, the rice was placed in large bags and then transported by motorbike or truck to collection facilities. 

This drive ended at Senggigi Beach.  We walked along the beach for a pretty good distance, and then decided to venture in to the Sheraton Senggigi Beach Resort for a look.  This is a wonderful hotel with a magnificent view of the beach.  They have a very nice outdoor restaurant overlooking the pool.  The food smelled great so we decided to give it a try.  Our choice from the menu was a spicy shrimp dish with rice and vegetables.  It was great and so was the service.  From there we ventured through the local shops and did our best to avoid the street vendors.  By 2:45pm we were back on our tour bus and headed back toward the pier.  En route we made a side trip through the capitol city of Mataram then on to a small village to observe local pottery being made. 

All-in-all it was a good day, full on interesting sights and new food dishes.  Of course it was hot and humid, but this is always expected near the Equator.  By 5:00pm, the Captain had our ship underway out of the harbor heading for our next stop Sihanoukville, Cambodia.  We will be at sea for 3 days before arriving in Cambodia.

Trivia

VISA

We have been chipping away at all the little trivial items in preparation for this cruise.  Went online to the Australian government’s website and obtained our Electronic Travel Authority (ETA) for this trip.  It is valid for 12 months and is good for multiple entries.  The ship will be obtaining VISAs for all passengers for Cambodia, Togo, Ghana, Indonesia, and Mozambique.  We previously obtained our VISA for India.  All the other countries don’t require advance travel authorization or a VISA.

Internet

Started thinking about Internet access for the trip.  Since we are Princess Elite Captain’s Circle members, we each will get 1000 minutes of Internet time broken down by segment.  Realizing that we will be posting on this blog often, we began to look for additional time through Princess.  To our surprise, Princess Cruises offers substantially discounted Internet minutes for World Cruise passengers to purchase.  So, we purchased one of their 1100 minute packages to argument our normal complimentary time. 

Shipping versus Excess Baggage

There are lots of personal items we want to take with us on the cruise.  As we keep adding things, of course the weight continues to increase.  We estimate that it would be nice to carry about 50 pounds of additional items on the flight from home to our port of embarkation (Fort Lauderdale).  The cost for these items by the airline is $100.  But, we can ship 50 pounds by UPS for $63.  So, we will most likely ship our items by UPS on or about January 3, 2011, to the timeshare in Florida where we will spend a few days prior to sailing.  It would be nice if Princess provided baggage shipping similar to what Holland America provides their world cruise passengers.

Shopping for Shoes

Walking about in 38 ports of call on this cruise will put a strain on the old feet.  For many months we have looked at what is really the best shoe for all this walking we plan to do.  After much research and trial we settled on the MBT Sport 2 which is specifically designed to absorb the impact of walking.  Cindy also has added a pair of Helle Comfort dress shoes of evening wear.

Grand Adventure

Over the years we began to consider whether to do a World Cruise.  There were places on the globe we hadn't yet had the opportunity to visit.  Most notably were India, Cambodia, Indonesia, and the southern part of the African continent.  Early in 2009 we became aware of a new sailing by Princess Cruises that would travel around the African continent stopping at nine ports.  Once we got to review the brochure showing the extent of the full World Cruise itinerary, we made the decision to do this cruise on the Pacific Princess scheduled for January 2011.




Princess Cruises World Cruise Brochure

 

But, how do you begin planning for such a cruise?  What are the little things you need to know before leaving home for nearly 4 months?  Although we have cruised many times to locations all over the world, this adventure would be something very new to us.  Not knowing all the answers but knowing we wanted to visit more of the world, we went ahead and booked this cruise in September 2009.  After the cruise was booked the hard part really began.  We searched for people who had done a world cruise before and searched for Blogs by other world cruisers.  All of this in an attempt to learn what you should and shouldn't do.   

Basically what were the lessons learned by people who had taken a similar cruise?  Over the coming months we tried to learn as much as possible about our itinerary; the ship; weather for the route, packing issues; tax extensions; immunizations; visa requirements; foreign currencies, global cell phone, travel insurance and all the other things that one needs to consider in their overall planning process.  What are ALL the other things!?!