Hong Kong
It seems we have missed another bullet - we learned of Friday's snowstorm in NJ, bad enough to cancel the Rotary club meeting. Other bullets missed include earthquakes and tusamis, neither of which have occurred in the South China Sea during our voyage. Thanks goodness for that! We have been really busy, which accounts for my infrequent dispatches, and only this morning have I found s few minutes to spend at a hotel computer to compose this. Also, for a while cruising up the China coast we couldn't access email providers, and I suspect that the Chinese somehow were blocking Google, AOL, and others. (The Chinese version of the Fairness Doctrine.)
On the Pride we were kept up with current events with CNN International and Fox News. Interestingly, right in the middle of the US Health Insurance debate the a Canadian equivalent of a governor was reported to have gone to the US for heart surgery - he didn't want to have to wait for his procedure. Ironic to be sure! Anyway, going back to last Tuesday we moored in Da Nang, located on the coast and just south of the 17th parallel, which divided North and South Viet Nam. Concurrently, I've been reading Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried and can't shake the history that transpired 40 years ago. The Viet Nam (or the American, depending on whether you're Viet Namese or American) War is a long past memory here, and the people welcome the Americans and other westerners with open arms. Half the population of Viet Nam wasn't even alive during the war. Those who were have apparently put it behind them and now appreciate the value of the tourist dollar.
In Da Nang we visited an incredible embroidery factory, where young women patiently and meticulously pour over their work creating beautiful works of art. Pinky attempted to shy me away from a superb Tiger embroidery, but I found a couple others and couldn't resist adding one to our tiger collection. I paid many dong for the piece, including the disassembled frame which I've been carrying around ever since, and can't wait to find a suitable place for it at home. On the streets the hawkers were unrelenting, trying to sell us whatever they had to sell. I settled for a cup of Viet Namese coffee - strong and flavorful.
We discovered that Viet Nam is the 2nd largest exporter of coffee - behind only Brazil. Who would have guessed! Our tour guide took us to a pagoda with more Buddahs and then to China Beach, a 25 mile long stretch of sand which the American troops used as a major base camp during the war. Now it is an up and coming vacation spot, with hotels being built and much construction under way.
That night we sailed in the Bay of Tonkin, where the whole Viet Nam war started for the USA, for Halong Bay - a UNESCO World Heritage Site containing 1969 islands of incredible beauty. There are huge karst limestone formations bursting out of the sea, covered with fog in the AM and presenting eerie apparitions. 22 of us form the Pride took a junk out to the islands, toured an incredible cave carved from the bowels of one of the islands, kayaked for an hour and a half out and around a few of the islands, and finishing at a beach and a 404 step path to the top of one of the islands.
After a day at sea, we docked in Hong Kong Saturday morning in a dense fog which lifted as we sailed along Hong Kong Is to the port. It is something to see in person the sandwiched in buildings that we've all seen in pictures! After extending goodbys to all the friends we made of the staff and passengers, we taxiied to the Shangra-La Hotel, right on the harbor. As if the hotel isn't luxurious enough, we somehow got a free upgrade to the Heritage Floor, where we enjoy incredible views of Hong Kong, complimentary cocktails in the evening and breakfast in the morning, and an grand room! This is really easy to get used to!
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