Oh hum, just a smoking volcano out the window

This morning, on our last day at sea before arriving in Kobe, I was in the faculty lounge reviewing my day's lectures when off to our starboard side I see an active volcano.  It is situated in the northern Ryukyu chain, just south of Kyushu.

Japanese volcano

Angkor Wat

Angkor Wat at sunrise

Following our brief stay in Phenom Penh our group hopped a plane for our one hour flight to Siem Reap to view the Angkor Wat temple complex.  Built in the 12th century to honor the Hindi god Vishnu; later it became a Buddhist temple. We got up at 5am one morning to see the temple at sunrise; unfortunately the clouds kept us from viewing it in all its glory.  Later in the day we returned to explore many of the temples in the area, including the one in which the trees seem to have taken over.

monkees at Angkor Wat

In the evening we went to a dinner/show.

Remembering Cambodia

Survivor of the Khmer Rouge regime, an artist

Our schedule over the past couple of weeks has been crazy; after leaving India we were at sea for only 3 days before arriving in Singapore where we stayed for only 2 days, one night. After setting sail we had no class days and just one "reading day" at sea before arriving in Vietnam.  Most people on board traveled away from Saigon to either Cambodia or Hanoi.  Then, when we left Vietnam we had only 3 days at sea before reaching Hong Kong.  I write this entry as we are now in our last day in Shanghai.  Thus, I am a bit behind in my blogs.

In front of the Palace

Sandy and I traveled to Cambodia where we spent a couple of days each in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap (Angkor Wat)-- both were terrific.  While in Phnom Penh activities included a boat ride on the Mekong River, visits to the palace, the detention building (formerly an elementary school) for those who were killed during the Khmer Rouge period (1975-79), and the Killing Fields, just outside the city.  Most of the students on our trip were quite ignorant of this tragic period in Cambodian history.

On the Palace grounds

Sandra heading out to the boat for our river cruise

Palace water lily

Vietnam: 2nd trip

The second field trip on which I was a bus leader was to the Mekong River delta.  Our first stop was to a Buddha temple.  Then we went on to the river and took two boat trips, one on the Mekong River and one in a small canal surrounded by a bamboo forest.  Although our day was geared for the tourist we did get a feel for the local life.

In the Buddhist temple

On our way to lunch we had a delightful mile+ ride in a smaller boat through a bamboo forest

Ride through the bamboo forest

Our mascot on the canal ride

Elephant fish, our lunch

Boat we took on the Mekong River

Good morning.....and good bye Vietnam

This past week has been such a whirlwind with trips to take in Vietnam that I hardly have been on my computer.  I was a tour leader for 1 trip and "bus leader" for2 other trips while in country. Primary responsibility for a tour leader is to make sure the local guide on the trip sticks to the itinerary as written up (there have been a few occasions where trips see and do things that were not advertised) and a bus leader's primary responsibility is to be sure the same number of people come back as left for the tour.
My first trip was to the Cu Chi Tunnels, about a 2 hour drive north of Saigon (this name is still used locally with Ho Chi Minh City used primarily by the government).  These tunnels were first built in the early 1950s when the French controlled the country but they were made famous during the Vietnam War (or the "American" war, from the Vietnamese perspective) when the Viet Cong used them to fight against US soldiers.  There are 3 levels of tunnels; some were fake and booby-trapped with explosives.

Re-enactment of soldier getting into the tunnel

Making shoes from tires left by the US military

A sad day on board the MV Explorer

Two days ago, on our second to last day in Vietnam, a male student was found dead in his bedroom.  Particulars are not known, at least to us who have no need to know.  This afternoon, our first day back at sea, a moving memorial service was held in the union.  Friends told stories of their new friend and the Archbishop gave a nice eulogy.  The service concluded with everyone taking a flower, walking to the stern and throwing the flower into the sea as the ship sounded its horn.

In Memory of Andre

Sights of Singapore

We have just departed Singapore after a much too short visit.  On the first day I met up with Bob Beckman and his family. Bob has been a law professor at the National Univ. of Singapore law school for over 30 years.  A few years he and his wife sold their home near the Univ. (which is adjacent to the Botanical Gardens) and bought a condo that overlooks the Singapore River and a wonderful river walk that is populated with shops and restaurants.

View of the Singapore River from the Beckman's balcony

 Bob had to catch a flight to Indonesia so his son Jeremy, a recent UC San Diego grad, was gracious enough to show me around part of the city.  We headed out to the Marina Barrage, a dam project in the outer harbor that within the next year will serve about 40% of Singapore's fresh water needs.  And, in the area adjacent to the dam they have created huge park areas. On this Sunday afternoon there was a kite festival going on [I bought Sandy a bat kite and lights that you can place on the kite).

Kite festival

From this park one can get a nice view of the harbor, including the ferris wheel (where at night you can have dinner) and the new hotel that has an infinity pool on top.