Semester at Sea! Spring 2011

Day 75
Today was the beginning of my China Guide tour. Ashley, Taylor and I left the ship this morning around 9am and went to the subway station and took the subway to the airport. We arrived at the airport pretty early because we weren’t sure how long everything was going to take us, especially because we had no idea where we were going. We sat in the airport and had some Starbucks before we had to board the plane. While we were sitting down, on our computers, two guys from Germany that had just met at the airport came up to us and asked where we were from, when we told them American one guy took out his guitar and played ‘wonderwall’ for us in the middle of the airport, funniest thing ever. We had a 3 and a half hour plane ride to Beijing. On the plane we got served lunch, it was chicken with rice, wasn’t too bad. When we arrived in the Beijing airport we looked for our tour guide and had to wait for everyone to get their bags. There were two tours that came on the same flight and were going to the same hotel, but tomorrow we are going with our own tours. We got to our hotel around 7 and dropped our things off and went out for some dinner. It’s hard because in Hong Kong they spoke a lot of English and it was easy to communicate, but in Beijing they speak NO English, so we just have to point to things in order to communicate. At dinner we ordered chicken, sweet and sour pork, fried rice and an oriental chicken with garlic and we all split them. We then walked around downtown Beijing for a while and it was so cold out! It was probably about 40 degrees, which we definitely aren’t used to, after being in 80 degree weather for three months! We went to the night market which is mainly food. We came across ‘things on a stick’, these things were delicious fruits covered in sugar, but then we also saw snake on a stick, scorpions, and octopus, I didn’t try any of that besides the fruit.

Day 76
We had two wake up calls this morning because we had to be downstairs for our free breakfast buffet at the hotel. After breakfast they put us into our groups and off we went. My group, also known as the Full Beijing Tour, only has 10 people in it and they are all girls! This is perfect, I hate large groups. Our tour guides name is Vivian, well that’s her English name. We got onto the bus and our first stop was at Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. I don’t really know what the significance of either are, but when we went to them they didn’t seem very special, I mean I am sure that it is significant to the Chinese. Tiananmen Square was outside and to me it just seemed like an area that can hold many people, but I think that’s what it’s for, an area that holds many public events. And the Forbidden City was for the emperor and it consisted of many buildings that we walked in. For lunch we had a ‘Peking Duck Lunch’. It is one of Beijing’s famous and traditional cuisines. Its duck that you wrap up in a tortilla type thing and add duck sauce and cucumbers then wrap it up and eat it! I thought it was good but I only had one, we had a bunch of other choices to eat. On the tour the meals consist of a bunch of dishes that we all share. We had everything from chicken, to rice, and vegetables. We then went to the Xiushui Silk Market where we shopped and bargained for souvenirs. Ashley and I did very well, every store we went to and wanted to buy something we bargained the price to be at least 50% less than what they asked for us, a few of them said to us ‘wow you girls are good, tough people’. It must be the business major in us! After a fun filled hour and a half of shopping and buying lots of unnecessary things, we had a two hour drive to the Great Wall! When we got to the Great Wall, we walked up a little and watched the sun set, and then came back down for dinner. Dinner definitely wasn’t as good as lunch, mainly because we found a worm in our corn that was the end of eating for most of us. It was so cold out; we went back to the bus and put on everything we brought to sleep on the Great wall. I had leggings and sweatpants on, 2 pairs of socks and sneakers, a tee shirt, long sleeve shirt, north face fleece, sweatshirt, north face rain coat and my north face vest, a scarf, a hat, mittens and my hood on, I was warm enough in our 20 degree weather. Then before we headed up the Great wall we had to stop and grab the mats and sleeping bags. At this point I am dressed looking like I am going to the North pole, I have my backpack with all my stuff for the night and a sleeping bag and a mat and now I have to hike  up to the great wall where we are sleeping. When we got up there, there were soft drinks, beer, water and snacks waiting for us. There were other China guide groups set up, we found our spot on the wall and laid our sleeping bags down and hung out for a while until we went to bed. Sleeping on the Great Wall was amazing, the sky was covered in stars, and there really aren’t enough words or pictures to describe what I saw and experienced. I was warm and slept pretty well, until 430am when Ashley woke me up to go pee, that’s a whole other story. The Great Wall is also known as ‘the longest cemetery’ because so many people had died building it. We had also learned that recently a guy had hiked the whole Great Wall; it took him a year to do it.

Day 77
I woke up this morning on the Great Wall at 6am to the sun rise. It was amazing, we were all exhausted and freezing, and it seemed colder in the morning than it did at night. When we were all eventually awake and willing to get out of our sleeping bags, we got dressed, dropped our mats and sleeping bags off, and then began our hike up the Great Wall. We hiked for 2 hours, it ended up being around 3 miles, it was 15 towers worth. Ashley and I took our time because we didn’t want it to end. By the time we got back down the wall, when I stood still, my legs were shaking on their own; I am going to be sore tomorrow! But now I can say that I slept on the great wall and hiked it for two hours! We drove back to Beijing and went to lunch. Then we went to the official stadium of the Olympics where the opening and closing ceremonies had taken place, we also got to see the swim cube. We weren’t allowed inside either of them because they aren’t open for the public yet, but I got lots of pictures outside. Our last stop of the day was at yet another market. I didn’t spend as much money at this one, thank goodness! We came back to the hotel, Ashley and I waited for the other girls to get back from their tour and we went out to dinner and walked around.

Day 78
Today was an easy and relaxing day, not much went on. We met in the lobby of the hotel around 9, loaded the bus and went to the Summer Palace and walked along the lake. The Palace looked just like the Forbidden City, the way that the buildings were designed and decorated. Then we went to the zoo to see the Panda exhibit, except 2 out of the 3 pandas were sleeping and we saw the third one from a distance, he was just pacing back and forth. After the Panda exhibit we went to the Hutong area, hutong means narrow road way. And the Hutong area is known as the poor area in Beijing. When we got there we were then taken to a Hutong family’s home by rickshaw (these ones were a lot better than India’s) for lunch. They had made us a delicious meal, I would say that it has been one of the best that we have had on the tour, and the chicken dumplings were my favorite. We got back into our rickshaw and had a tour through Beijing’s historic hutongs. We finished the tour by of course shopping around in the local shops. Then we had to hike up 69 steep stairs to the top of the Drum Tower where we saw 25 drums that put on a performance every 2 hours. We walked down bar street that had over 1000 bars and stopped inside Starbucks for some coffee! We are now back at the hotel and have the evening to ourselves. Tomorrow is another long day, and it’s our last day on the tour. In addition to the day, our night was well spent. Ashley and I decided that we wanted Western food, we were SO sick of Chinese food we would rather not eat dinner than have Chinese for the 4th day/night in a row. We really wanted Subway, so we went to the mall right down the road and got wifi and tried looking up where the nearest Subway was. We had no idea what street we were on so our Subway searching wasn’t going as well as planned. It was too hard to ask anyone around the mall where the nearest one was because they spoke little to no English and when we said Subway, they thought that we were talking about the underground subway. We left the mall and decided to just walk down the street until we found a tourist center or a Western restaurant besides McDonalds, KFC, or Pizza Hut. The first thing we saw was a tourist center so we went in and asked for a map, that didn’t help either, so we asked the person at the desk if he knew where the nearest Subway restaurant was. He said that there was one right down the street in another mall. We were thrilled to hear that! When we got to the mall it was huge so we tried finding a directory, but of course there weren’t any around. There were signs hanging and I saw one that said Subway station, and when I saw the Subway I thought that we were in luck, but then I realized it was the wrong thing. As we were walking around aimlessly, we saw a billboard with Subway written on it, we followed where it said to go and we found it! It was the best moment ever, sad I know. It was probably one of the best Subway sandwiches I had ever had, the bread was so fresh. We seriously walked around Beijing for 2 hours looking for a subway, yes we were that desperate. Then we ended the night with some delicious frozen yogurt.

Day 74
First day in China! We arrived in Hong Kong this afternoon. After getting off the ship, Alicia, Ashley, Lindsay and I were walking around Hong Kong and weren’t sure how to spend our day. Randomly we thought of how there is a Disneyland in Hong Kong and that is where we went! We got on the ferry to go across the island and took two subways to get there. Getting there wasn’t as hard as I thought and we didn’t have to wait around for any subways either, right when we got there is when they got there as well. Disneyland was fun, we went on some rides such as Space Mountain, buzz light year, it’s a small world and I think that’s all, there weren’t many rides there anyways. We saw a few shows. We saw the Lion King, Mickey Mouse 3D, and the fireworks show at the end. We had lunch and dinner at the park along with some ice cream. We got our pictures taken with two of the characters, Winnie the Pooh and Pluto. Disneyland wasn’t that big, but now I can say that I went to the Disneyland in Hong Kong! Leaving for my China Guide trip tomorrow, where I will be doing a full Beijing tour and sleeping on the Great Wall Monday night!

Day 71
Last day in Vietnam, I spent it as I do every other port, shopping around and doing last minute things. Steph, Alicia, and I went to the coffee bean for some coffee and then walked around Saigon all morning. We went to the back packer’s district and to the markets. I ended up buying a really cute dress. We arrive in China on Saturday!

Day 69
Well to begin this amazing day, I fell off the gangway (the ramp to get off the ship) this morning at 7am. I now have a bruise on my arm and a skinned knee. I don’t remember how I did it, I think that I was just looking around and didn’t realize there was a step in front of me and down I went. Of course there was a harder impact because I had my 15 pound backpack on my back. But anyways, Ashley, Steph, and I went to the travel office where we booked our tour and waited for the arrival of the bus. There ended up being about 20 other tourists on our tour with us which was really neat, we got to meet some people from all over the world. Our first stop was at a Pagoda, it’s a far Eastern temple tower that has a series of upward curving roofs. At this place we also got to see one of the biggest Buddha’s. It was on top of a building and it was so amazing to see how big this thing actually was. The detail in it was incredible. You could see his belly button, wrinkles by his eyes, teeth. Then we got back on the bus for another 2 hours and went to a city (I can’t remember what it was called exactly). We then took a boat ride to an island for lunch. At lunch we had pork with rice and vegetables. We had the option of ordering Elephant ear fish, it’s a fish the size of an elephant ear and in order to eat it, they just bring it to your table, eyeballs still attached, and you just pick it off the bone, I passed. The food was really good and we ate lunch with 2 girls that were from California and were backpacking for three weeks. Then after lunch we took the boat to another island and saw how they made coconut candy. We got to try some, and then purchase some if we were interested. I bought the chocolate and the regular. They are pretty good, except when you buy them packaged, they come with a thin slice of rice paper on them and you eat the rice paper with the candy and it dissolves in your mouth, it reminds me of a Listerine. Then the candy is more along the lines of taffy, it’s very chewy. Our guide then showed us this rack, I guess you could say, of bees, they make their own honey and tea. We got to try it, and it was very very sweet, but still good. While we were drinking the tea a guy brought out a snake and we were able to hold it, I am deathly afraid of snakes, especially the HUGE pythons, but I knew since I was in Vietnam, I was going to have to hold it. I put it around my neck for about 5 seconds and then made him take it off because I was about to freak out, I didn’t realize how heavy and strong they are! We then got into these little canoes (4 people to a canoe) and went up this little canal/river type thing to another island that had fresh fruit and music. In the canoe along the way, they gave us the pointy hats to wear! When we got to the island, they had fruit waiting for us as people were singing and playing instruments. We weren’t there for very long until we had to make our way back to the bus and go another 2 and a half hours to another city (Vihn Long? Vinh Long? I can never remember!) When we got to the city we were to check into our hotel and just to remind you, our 25$ fee of the tour includes this hotel, so we weren’t sure what to expect when we arrived. Since there were three of us, we got the 4 bedroom room. Our handle had jewels all over it so we thought that it was going to be fancy. When we walked in, there were 4 beds lined up next to each other, with fire truck blankets on them!! The blankets were a small fleece and that was it. The beds were like cement walls and the pillows were so small, we knew that it was going to be an interesting night. When we went into the bathroom, there was a shower, but this shower was in the middle of the bathroom, it was just a hose and didn’t have a curtain or a tub around it, the water just goes all over the floor. Next thing we notice is that there are Geckos all over the room; I know they are harmless but I would rather not be sleeping with one at night. After we had settled in and came to terms with where we were staying for the night, we went outside and found a little restaurant where we had some dinner and just hung out for the night. If you’re wondering what the point of the trip was, it was to go to the Mc Kong Delta. This delta begins in Tibet China, and runs through six different countries, the only ones I can remember are Cambodia, Thailand, China, and of course Vietnam.

Day 70
We had to wake up this morning at 545am because breakfast was being served at 630, it was included! I had some eggs and an iced coffee. After breakfast we got all of our things and walked to where the dock was with the boats. We got on the boat and went to the floating markets. We had a tour of them; the boat just went around each one. They are on the water and in other boats, none of them are connected. The floating market consisted mainly of fresh fruit and drinks being sold. After we had a tour, he pulled up next to another boat that was selling fresh pineapple and we were able to purchase some, it was so good! And we got a whole pineapple for .50 cents. Our boat then took us to see where they make the rice noodles. Rice noodles are thin noodles, kind of like angel hair pasta. Vietnamese eat rice noodles all the time. The process in which they go through to make these noodles is insane. It is all done by hand and they are working with heavy and hot machines without any air conditioning, I don’t know how they do it. Then we went to a fruit plantation and saw where all the fruit is grown, for the first time I tried mango and I really enjoyed it. We got to walk across a monkey bridge, which is a bridge that was made out of bamboo type material and was very thin and you had to hang on or else you were going in the water. We had to go back to the boat and the boat took us back to the bus. We had an hour to ourselves to grab some lunch before the bus left to head back to Saigon. We went to the same place that we went to last night for dinner. At lunch I got egg noodles and vegetables. Then we had a 4 and a half hour ride back to Saigon. When we got back here, since we were already out we decided to walk around the backpack district for a while. This district is where we booked our tour. It’s filled with lots of tour companies, places to eat, and shops. After walking around for a while we were hungry and went to a really nice place for dinner. We spoiled ourselves a little since it was our last night in Saigon. We had some drinks and then headed back to the ship. Tomorrow is our last day in Vietnam and I think that this has been my favorite place. But then again I feel like I say that every port I go to!

Day 67
Today was our first day in Vietnam. We arrived around 11am because of the tides and were able to get off around noon. Ashley, Taylor, and I went shopping downtown at a market type place for a while. Then went to a late lunch at a sushi restaurant, it was so good. After lunch it was raining, so we walked around in the market a little and then went to a coffee shop. Before dinner we came back to the ship to change and then Lindsay’s parents took all 8 of us out to dinner at a restaurant called ‘Vietnam House’. There are a ton of parents here in Vietnam because Semester at Sea set up a parent trip to come here while we were here. At dinner we just got a bunch of different dishes and split them all, it was all amazing and it was so nice to have a good meal!

Day 68
Ashley, Steph, and I spent the morning shopping in the markets and walking around Saigon, exploring different areas. I bought a few things in the market, everything here is so cheap! We went into a travel agent and booked a 2 day, 1 night tour that we are going to be taking tomorrow at the Mekong Delta. It was cheap, 25$ for accommodations, a tour guide, and transportation, we will see how it ends up going. Before we headed back to the ship for some lunch, we wanted to go to one of the nicest hotels/restaurant in Saigon (Ho Chi Ming City). It was called the Rex Hotel, and at the top was an open roof restaurant and we went up there for a coffee and enjoyed the view. We went back to the ship for a late lunch and hung out for a little, before going back into the city. Then we went to the War Remnants Museum and I learned all about the Vietnam War with the US. I didn’t realize how much the Vietnamese hated us and how much damage we really did. It was sad to read all the stories and to see some of the pictures that were displayed, but I am glad that I got to learn about it because I really didn’t know anything. We decided to treat ourselves to a manicure and pedicure and had gotten a brochure from the restaurant we were at last night of a really good spa. So we decided to go there and our manicure and pedicure was only 15$, and it came out good! We ended the night by going to the backpack district (Vietnam has 5 different districts) and we had some dinner while sitting at a corner restaurant in the middle of the backpack district, watching cars and people pass by. The restaurant was called Crazy Buffalo.

Day 66
It is official; we are going to Taiwan instead of Japan. We are going for four days, not too sure of the date yet and I know nothing about Taiwan, but I am sure I will learn! Vietnam tomorrow!

Day 64
Today was Singapore and it was such a beautiful place. So clean and well kept, especially since we were last in India where we would wipe our face and dirt would come off. When we got off the ship this morning we saw someone walking with a Starbucks cup in their hand and went right in that direction for a nice frapaccino that I haven’t had in over 2 and a half months. Then we took some taxis downtown and went to a really expensive mall with all expensive stores. We decided that it wasn’t really in our price range and left. As we were driving I saw a Forever 21 and was so excited. We went to a Hawker center. It’s pretty much a food court with a ton of Singapore food. We had some lunch and then went shopping in ‘Chinatown’. There were a lot of markets and individual stands. We met up with Katie’s distant cousin who told us of some good places to go and see. She told us to go to ‘the eye’ which is also known as the ‘Singapore Flyer’. It’s a Ferris wheel that goes around for 40 minutes, it’s one of the largest in the world, and as it goes around you can see the whole city of Singapore. When we got there we saw that it cost 30 dollars to go up. We had heard that there was an open top bar at the top of a hotel/casino called ‘The Sands’ and it was the same view from the Ferris wheel and that was only 20$ to go up. Some of us decided to do that and some went on the Ferris wheel, I wanted to go to the open top. When we got to the hotel and asked for a ticket to go to the top, they advised us not to go because it had started raining and it isn’t worth it if it’s raining. So our next plan was to go to ‘The Raffles’. It was another hotel/bar that had invented the infamous ‘Singapore Sling’ drink. The Singapore sling is known in Singapore and you have to try it when you go. I can’t remember exactly what is in it besides Gin and a bunch of juices. When we got there we went to the long bar and sat down and ordered the drink. We each only got one, because they were 25$ each and with tax ended up being 30$, CRAZY! It was good, but very sugary, and wasn’t really worth the 30$ but I guess that now I can say I had a Singapore Sling. After this we went to the Raffles center and were looking for a place to get some sushi, but there wasn’t much available, so half of the group went to grab some dinner and the rest of us got Subway, I was part of the subway! And of course after I treated myself to some Ben and Jerry’s after with cookies and cream and chocolate brownie, SO GOOD! Then we went shopping at Forever 21, it was 4 floors, but it wasn’t as cheap as the one back in the states. After shopping we had an hour and a half to get back to the ship before ‘on ship time’. So we decided to head back because there was a lot of traffic. When we got back we went to Starbucks again and hung out for a little. With 45 minutes left until on ship time we decided to head back. When we got back, there was such a long line because we had to go through customs first. By the time we got to customs we only had 15 minutes to get to the ship and have our bags checked and be swiped in before on ship time, and if we got there after 830 we had dock time, which no one wants! After we got through customs we ran back to the ship, it was only a 5 minute walk, but we knew that there would be a line at the ship, so we were sprinting, got to the ship, had our bags checked and we were swiped in 5 minutes before on ship time. We ended up making it with no dock time, success! I loved Singapore, even though I spent a ridiculous amount of money on a drink. I wish that we were here longer! But now it’s time for Vietnam in 2 days!