Internet wins battle with Merne on Ship

Haven't posted for a while due to technical difficulties.

We are now back in the Goodle USA!
Safely back in Glenwood Springs.

I'll continue to fill in the gaps in this blog to become my little memoir of the trip. I'll need to unpack first and get my kids to school and pay the bills and check in with work and..............

Thanks for reading!

Shanghai, China

We flew to Shanhai to meet the ship as our China stay came to an end. Shanghai is incredibly modern and we contributed to the growth of the economy by stopping at Haagen Daz on the pedestrian mall.

I had told the kids about the last time I was in China when everyone wore Mao suits. I finally found what I thought was perhaps the last remaining Mao suit on an older gentleman in the park. Upon zooming in, however, I notice that it is not the Chinese red star on his hat.

Climbing in Yangshuo

Yangshuo, China

We explored Yangshuo on some basic bikes that we rented from our hotel. We biked through a few villages on roads and “single track” rice field paths. The highlight was our lunch spot at Dragon Bridge, Yulang Ciao. The bamboo raft guides helped us cross the river at the end of our day.

Hong Kong to Yangshuo

The ship docked in Hong Kong, stayed for two days, and then left for transit to Shanghai. Students and community were given the option of travelling overland to meet the ship in Shanghai or travelling for two days on a quiet ship with no classes. We travelled overland by first taking a train to Guangzhou, China. Even though Hong Kong is now officially part of China, it has its own currency and its own immigration system. The train ride was considered an international trip.

From Guangzhou we flew to Guilin. From Guilin we arranged the hour drive to Yangshuo. We could have spent weeks in Yangshuo. What a beautiful, peaceful spot.

Vietnam - 2

I was surprised to learn that Saigon was a fun place to hang out. The food was great fun, and crossing the street was an adventure. I swear that getting through the herd of motorcycles was reminiscent of wading across a river.

On the fourth day of our stay in Saigon, we suffered the tragic loss of a student’s life on the ship. That will forever overshadow our experience there. The shipboard community was reeling. After a ceremony at Sea for the student, the community continues to heal.

Vietnam

We stayed near Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) for our five days in Vietnam. Chris was on call and needed to stay close. We did a few trips without him to some tourist destinations. The first was the Cu Chi Tunnels where we learned about the huge network of underground tunnels that the VC used against the US during the American War. The second was a trip to the Mekong Delta. I hoped to get to an actual floating market there but we must have gotten up too late.