Our ship Norwegian Jade was making its maiden voyage on this particular itinerary so they were discovering things just like we were. For example, we found out that three of the ports were not accessible for large ships so we had to be tendered in.
Itinerary was great - hitting main tourist attractions in Southeast Asia in one fell swoop - and so was the price. Added bonuses were solar eclipse on December 26 visible only in Asia (67% where we were in Sihanoukville, Cambodia), and front row seat at Singapore Marina to watch New Year's fireworks. (Total 4406 miles or 3831.7 knots for the whole trip.)
The 3 main cities - Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) were far away from the nearest - mostly industrial, not touristy - ports and it took us 1-2 hours each way to the city, and left only a short amount of time for sightseeing. Penang, Phuket, Ko Samui and Nha Trang were perfectly touristy - we were tendered in the last 3 ports, which took away some time from sightseeing as well. Sihanoukville, Cambodia's ONLY deep sea port, is considered a resort town for the locals, but it really wasn't quite so.. Chinese investors poured money to build casinos, which would have helped the economy and tourism, but something went wrong and the money flow stopped. Now, it is a dusty town with torn up roads and bunch of unfinished buildings. We instead hopped over to Siem Reap to visit Angkor Wat, world's largest religious monument.
Click on the links below to see photos.
- Ko Samui is an idyllic forested island with pristine sandy beaches. Venture inland to see majestic cascading waterfalls. Visit giant Buddha at Wat Phra Yai. We hired a private taxi who kept us ahead of the tour buses and brought us back to the ship ahead of time.
- Laem Chabang is an industrial port 127 km away from Bangkok (Elevation nearly 5000 ft.) We had booked a private taxi online. He had trouble finding our ship, but after that it was a smooth sailing to the Grand Palace. Emerald Buddha, Reclining Buddha (Wat Pho), and Temple of Dawn (Wat Arun) were all walkable/MRT connected. From Wat Arun, we took MRT to Makkasan station, and changed to train to BKK (Suvarnabhumi) Airport for a flight to Siem Reap. The next day, return trip from BKK to Laem Chabang worked out well due to on time flight and taxi performance.
- Phuket is known for its beaches, but also for island hopping. There are so many islands in Phang Nga Bay that are worth visiting. A distinctive feature of Phang Nga Bay is the sheer limestone karsts that jut vertically out of the emerald-green water. James Bond Island where Man with the Golden Gun was filmed is but one example. From sandy beaches to sandbars, to coves where you could swim or snorkel, to caves and lagoons at Hong Island, to Fishing Village on stilts could only be done in half a day with a speed boat going 25-30 knots. Definitely worthwhile and unique experience.
- Angkor Wat - An 1:20 hour flight on a prop plane brought us from Bangkok to Siem Reap on 24th night. A small International airport, where after getting off the plane via ladder, we were told to just walk over to Arrivals. With eVisas already on hand, we came out quickly. All hotels provide free shuttle to the hotel (but not back to the airport.) Tuk Tuk driver who picks you up is usually the one to take you to Angkor Wat the next day.
- Half day Short Loop is $22 (USD is widely accepted, and in fact, preferred.) To go early to watch sunrise, it is additional $10, and another $7 to bring you back to the airport - even though the airport is only 3 miles from Angkor Wat, whereas the town is 7 miles away.
- After a short sleep, we left the hotel at 4:30 am to get to the ticket center. There were enough tourists, but plenty of counters to purchase tickets. As it happens overseas, our credit cards didn't go through, so we had to pay cash ($37 pp/day.) The ticket covered ALL monuments in the area. The ticket has your photo on it to prevent fraud, and they checked tickets at each stop.
- By 5 am, we were dropped of at the West entrance of Angkor Wat. Following the crowds, we walked to the South side by the lake to view sunrise (6:24 am.) It was very dark and we had no idea where we were going. After checking our tickets, we walked on a pontoon bridge to arrive at the prime viewing spot - where you can see the reflection of the temples in the lake. Hundreds of people were there and more kept coming. As the darkness faded, we realized that there were plenty of other spots from where to view the sunrise. Also, the temple was open to enter anytime. Even before sunrise, we started exploring the temple, and by 7:30 am, we were ready to move on.
- The hotel had provided breakfast boxes (they preferred that we went back to the hotel to have breakfast, but the timing wasn't working out for us. To catch 1:35 PM flight, we had to be at the airport by Noon, and we would rather spent most of the time at the temples.)
- Going East of Angkor Wat, we stopped at Banteay Kdai,Ta Phohm, Ta Keo, Thommanon and Chau Say Tevoda going counter clockwise (see map link above.) before going to Angkor Thom and then airport to the West. All other temples were smaller and less crowded - Angkor Thom being the largest - but sufficiently different from each other. Ta Prohm is where you can see what I call "the revenge of the trees" - giant tree roots finding their way to the soil overpowering temple rock walls in the process.
- With nearly 6 hours of Angkor Wat experience - walking, climbing steps, taking pictures and admiring the temples built 8-9 hundred years ago, lost to the forest and discovered only recently, we felt that this trip was definitely the highlight.
- At the airport, they kept changing the departure gates on us, and finally bus-ed us over to the plane (Boeing 737 this time) for 1:10 hr flight back to BKK.
- Some stats on Angkor Wat Tourism - Only since the 1990s, Angkor Wat has become a major tourist destination. In 1993, there were only 7,650 visitors to the site; by 2004, government figures show that 561,000 foreign visitors had arrived in Siem Reap province, approximately 50% of all foreign tourists in Cambodia. The number reached over a million in 2007, and over two million by 2012. Most visited Angkor Wat received over two million foreign tourists in 2013. Cambodian government keeps jacking up entrance fees (now, $37/day) and tourists happily pay. Tourism has provided some additional funds for maintenance—as of 2000 approximately 28% of ticket revenues across the whole Angkor site was spent on the temples—although most work is carried out by teams sponsored by foreign governments rather than by the Cambodian authorities
- Next day in Sihanoukville was mainly about the Solar Eclipse. Our short walk in to town was disappointing.
- Nha Trang was perfectly touristy. Though we had to be tendered in, once at the pier, the town lay right along the beautiful 8 mile tree-lined sandy beach. Our interest was Po Nagar temple just past the river - and the beach. Though a bit risky, we decided to ride motorcycles. Unknown vehicle, unknown driver, unknown road/traffic conditions - but it worked out. The traffic was disciplined, drivers careful and weather nice.
- Phu My (Foo Mee) is a cruise port located 40 miles southeast of Saigon. A long trip in a private taxi took us there. All tourist spots are close to each other - walking distance actually. First stop - Ben Thanh Market - was of no interest to us. War Remnants Museum was a propaganda about how Vietnam fought evil US during the war. Reunification Palace was closed for lunch. Notre Dame Cathedral was also closed for repairs. That left Central Post Office which is right next door to the Cathedral. It is a working post office with bunch of shops around and lots of tourists. Nice, short trip, though otherwise disappointing.
- Penang is an island popular with expats from all over the world. Known as the Pearl of the Orient, it has rain forest, waterfalls and sandy beaches. George Town's historic district has mix of architecture and the usual attractions for shoppers and foodies. Views from the top of Penang Hill and Kek Lok Si Temple were the highlights.
- Kuala Lumpur has a compact sight seeing area, except for Batu Caves further up north and not to be missed. We had very limited amount of time and we returned just in the nick of time - though there were plenty of people behind us. President's Palace, Independence Square, Petronas Towers and KL Menara Tower were the other attractions.
- We did not have time to go to the top, nor for shopping or even lunch. Lunch from Jaipur Mahal was included so we took to go and ate at the Independence Square to save time. Everyone was very happy with the food - Thankfully.
- Singapore sight seeing - Singapore has changed dramatically since my last visit nearly 30 years ago. There were plenty of new things to see, and we had two full days to do it - 90+ degree weather notwithstanding. Luckily, it didn't rain on those days. We spent a lot of time near Marina Bay and Marina Sands area, though the other areas were not too far from there considering how small the entire Singapore island country is. The best part was their extensive SMRT metro system where they had only recently started accepting mobile apps like GPay and ApplePay. Many tourists didn't know that, and lined up to purchase tickets at the vending machines. Fares were very reasonable (subsidized?) - we paid about $2 per trip - even from Changi airport to Marina Bay Cruise Center (MBCCS.)
- New Year's Eve fireworks - Fireworks started early. One of our friends had a cabin with balcony directly facing the harbor and the city (as you can see in photos). When the fireworks began at 11, we thought that our clocks were off. Instead, they have a large stadium called The Float @ Marina Bay where there was a concert followed by the fireworks. We had walked by that area that morning and saw that they had barricaded many areas and streets for the night event. From 11 PM, fireworks continued for almost an hour, stopping just before midnight. They then had drones produce images of the lion, walking man, etc. and finally, a giant clock ticking down to midnight. Grand finale lasted for 5-10 minutes after that and the show was over. Even from the distance, it was spectacular.
