Thought I would start a new thread for TAJ. I am in Shanghai today doing a little site inspection trip in China before flying to Bangkok to meet the ship.

Nice flight over but we crashed last night and slept about 11 hours. Doing some running around today, going to a Pearl Market about 30 minutes out of town to check it out for Pagoda in 2014. Never been to this one before. Cant shop or I will have to drag things around all over China and trying to travel light with just one or two nights in each hotel.

Little chilly here and light drizzle tomorrow it is supposed to be bright sunshine. However tomorrow we go to a town called Hangzhou that is supposed to be the prettiest in China so I will hold the good weather for that adventure. We are going to see the newest laser light show that has been created by the man that did the Olympics in Beijing. Looking forward to that.

Be back later with more posts. Fascinated to see posts from the trip to Myramar that Andrea and Betty are on. This is a destination on my wish list. Got to fit in a visit there somehow!.

Some good sea mail coming your way in the next few weeks. We have some good posters onboard including Eugene and he always does a great job. Franck Galzy is on the ship as GM and I have not seen him for so long so that will be wonderful.

Have a great trip, I know you will as always!

Ngaire, you'll warm up in Bangkok where it is supposed to be 100 on Monday and 104 on Tuesday! We in DC are supposed to get a mixture of rain and snow tonight with unusually low temps. Hope the cherry blossoms aren't affected. Last year we had 4 days of 80s by now. The high tomorrow is supposed to be 39.

Looking forward to seeing Franck again, too. I see that you are already advertising my posts. I better not forget my Air !

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Eugene

We leave for Bangkok on Tuesday morning and have the packing process going. I'm trying to decide if I need to bring an extra bag to bring to Angkor Wat or just reorganize the bags I'd bring for the cruise. We'll probably opt for lesser is better. Also looking forward to seeing Franck. Ray Solaire will be the CD. Does anyone know who'll be the captain?

I am also doing the Angkor Wat precruise. I leave 1 am on 3/26. Will be at the Peninsula hotel from 3/27. Arrive mid afternoon on 3/27. Are you at the Peninsula.

We thought that Angkor Wat was terrific. Just be prepared for extremely hot and humid weather. (I realize that most of the trip is going to be accompanied by fairly hot weather.) I think that we were in Siem Reap for four days, and I know that we one day, we had to go back to the hotel to shower because the morning was so oppressive. Think showers two or three times a day. (At 5 PM Siem Reap was 97 today.) Light-weight Safari clothes come in useful. At least one can wear shorts in most places, since unlike many of the Taj excursions, I don't think that you go into many temples. Hard for me to think about 100 in Bangkok as the snow continues coming down outside here in DC--more than anticipated-- though negligible compared with west of here.

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Eugene

Ralph, yes, we're at the Peninsula but we don't get in until almost midnight on the 27th. If you're interested, lets plan to have dinner the evening of the 28th.
Eugene, thanks for the weather warning. I know at least one person (Jerry) who can't wait to get there -- he loves it, the hotter the better. I don't really mind the heat, but get wiped out when it's really humid. We'll see how it goes, I may have to skip a few temples...

I can't believe it's still snowing here in DC. Took this from the patio a little while ago. (I know this is nothing, but for DC at the end of March, pretty unusual.) May help us keep cool when on TAJ.

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Eugene

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Bon Voyage to all on TAJ...

I think it will be a spectacular trip with a great group. Happy Travels to all. Please tell Franck hi from Tom and me.

Hello from Hangzhou, China. Interesting city. The downtown driving in is just another big city but once you hit the WEST LAKE area there are gardens all around the beautiful lake with green hills in the background. We are staying at the Hyatt a really nice hotel looking over the lake.

Our first day we checked out hotels and restaurants (what we do when we travel) and had a great meal of Norwegian Salmon at the Shangri La Hotel that is right where the famous show "Impressions of West Lake" took place. What a show. Extremely well done and it appears the actors are walking on water, as they splash the water with their feet as they walk.

I thought I never wanted to see another temple but we visited a temple here with Bhuda's carved into the mountain side, beautiful grounds and not so many steps to see the Bhuda's in their temple. Really a nice experience.

We went to the tea plantations absolutely stunning scenery. We went to the typical tourist tea planation where all the tourists go. Our guide said the farmers are now allowed to open up their homes for tea houses. I wanted to know if it was possible to visit a farmers house even though this normally has to be pre-arranged. So our guide took us to visit a friend of hers that has changed part of his house into a tea house. When we arrived the whole house was under construction as his son is getting married and the newly weds will live in his home. He was so nice and took us through showing his bedrooms and the entire house to us. He is building a huge deck area with gorgeous views to attract more guests to his house for tea. His house is dead smack in the middle of his tea planation and all the ladies picking the tea were coming in for lunch in their sampan hats. Just stunning scenery. Getting there was fascinating too, this was the real China not the tourist version. Chickens, dogs, please sitting out eating and talking, bit of garbage around of course. Great photography moments.

We visited Old Town specifically to visit a herbal medicine shop. A pharmacy with prescriptions from doctors and over the counter medicines as well. This was really fascinating too.

Been a great stay and really enjoyed this stop but you do have to stay in the West Lake area. We had one nice day but today it was drizzling and cold. Not good for Ken's pictures but he will try and post some if they turned out okay.

Tomorrow we take a high speed train to Shanghai and fly onto Chendu to see the new Panda sanctuary. The old one we visited before was destroyed in the earthquake.

Be back later.

Ngaire

As always, you are having an amazing trip Ngaire. And as always can't wait to see Ken's pictures.

Safe travels, Ngaire! Such a huge, diverse and, to our Western eyes, very unique country.
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Helen

Sounds fascinating. Looking forward to hearing more details of your adventures during TAJ--and seeing photos, too.

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Eugene

We're in the Admirals Club waiting to board our flight to Tokyo and then Bangkok. Not looking forward to 20+ hours in airplanes.

Oh, oh -- this is not starting out well. Our flight to Tokyo has been delayed for over six hours and we'll now have to spend the night in Tokyo and won't get to Bangkok until late in the afternoon on the 28th. So much for having a day to rest up before we head to Angkor Wat.

Bummer Peggy!

Hope you are doing Regent air so they can deal with the headaches!

Ugh, Peggy! The trip is long enough without added delays.

Sorry to hear this Peggy - my greatest fear (now in my old age) is having to deal with similar situation - you need right attitude and lots of energy - seems I had them both in spades a few years ago now I get cranky and sleepy ... good luck XXOO

Not a great start Peggy, but keep smiling and just go with the flow. You'll love Ankgor Wat...it is so hot during the day you can take a nap in the afternoon.

Be prepared for over 100 in angor wat. It's not dry heat either. Nap the best you can, Peggy. Arlene's advice is great. Getting out by 5 am to avoid the heat and going out after 4. A three hour de-stress massage may be in order! In the heat of the afternoon also works! Hope all goes smoothly from this point forward.

I arrived in bkk about 11:30am. Transit thru immigration customs etc was very painless as CX gave me a priority pass. Once I found where that was it was a breeze. Bag took a while and began to worry a bit but it showed up.

I am now at the Peninsula Hotel. Nice view of the river and reasonable room. Trying to stay awake as I do not want to fall asleep and wake up at 4 am . Need to get on this time zone.

Life is good.

Hi Ralph - Andrea and I made it to BKK. Thought we would never get to the hotel in rush hour traffic. Now in bar at 4 Seasons having toddies and sandwiches. Need to lay off the rich food for a few days. Make that for only a few days. See you soon.
Andrea has fallen in love with their Thai ice tea.

Thurs AM 3/28--part of the way there. After spending the night in Tokyo we are now at Narita waiting for a flight to Bangkok on Thai Airways. We should get to the hotel around 4:30 or 5 this afternoon. Fingers crossed both we and our bags get there!

Crossing fingers and toes, Peggy! Betty, glad you and Andrea are "in place" hahaha, having drinks at 7 a.m in the morning. For shame

Well, if your luggage dosnt make it, we can look out for it for you. Let us know. We are getting on the flight in Siem Reap that you are getting off. The hawkers sell really cheap Ali baba pants and tops that would be good disposables. Hopefully, all will be fine! Today was cooler so perhaps good luck is heading your way. Time for our afternoon siesta.

Ali Baba pants for everyone!

I need to see a photo of the whole group in Ali Baba pants.

PHOTOS FROM CHENGDU, CHINA:


Vivian (our guide), Panda, Ngaire.


Always time for a nap.








Peacock in a tree.


Red Panda.

We are about to leave Chengdu and fly to Chiang Mai. Really enjoyed this time in Chengdu we were so rushed last time we just saw the Pandas and the Changing Faces show. The pandas are as adorable as ever and now there are even more of them. The reproduction has been going very well at the Giant Panda Research Center. We spend most of the morning at this lovely facility. As we were about to leave there were literally hundreds of little kids in school uniforms and guided by the military. Probably about 6 - 8 years old. At this stage of their education they spend time with the military and the military teaches them discipline, standing still for periods of time things of this nature. Did not look like the military guides were having much success with this discipline. They were all so excited shouting HELLO and giggling it was a lot of fun. Had a little snack here for lunch and there are some nice Chinese restaurants as well. Ken will post some pictures..

After the Pandas we visited some of the traditional tourist places and we really enjoyed Jinli Street that is a reproduction of an old Chinese street. This is for tourists of course. Great buildings and a very busy bustling place. Lots of local foods, our guide had a pig ears sandwich not quite my normal lunchtime snack. Only a few westerners but tons of Chinese tourists. It was a lot of fun.. Only western fare was their version of cross between KFC and McDonalds.

Then our guide took us a bit off the beaten path and we found Peoples Park. This place was a hoot and VERY loud. Beautiful park complete with a lake and little bridges with small boats taking families for rides on the lake. What made it special was all these people that took turns at performing. Most of these were older and often dressed in colorful costumes, men waving Chinese flags and singing. We saw a few punk rock type kids singing but not much of an audience. Little stages with loud jam box music around every corner. No westerners in sight and so many people saw us and offered their seat for us to watch the performers. It was quite touching. What really tickled me was a huge open area and the Chinese were doing their version of "the freeze" a country and western line dance. Just a few extra steps but that surprised me Ken and I met doing that line dance. They retire so early here and they need to keep busy and I guess this is one way of doing that.

We went to the Changing Faces show again. It is amazing how they do that it really is changing the color of their mask in an instant. Prior to the show we wandered park and found an open area where the older people were dancing. It is so delightful to see the couples out there together.

Great visit, now we head off to Thailand.

Thanks, Andi. We finally got to Bangkok around 6 pm last night (Thursday) and so did our bags. We had a quick dinner with Ralph and June and then hit the sack because we had to get our bags out at 6 am this morning. No problem because I woke up at 3. We're in Siem Reap now at the Raffles Hotel--hopefully we'll get a good night's sleep tonight and quit with the jet lag!!!!

Have a wonderful time. Love to all of you! Enjoy. If you have done time, the archeological museum next door to your hotel is great and air conditioned.

Glad you and your bags made it Peggy, what a stressful start.

Sounds like everyone is starting out with fun pre cruises. Love the Panda pictures.

Looking forward to great seamail.

We are in Hong Kong, awaiting our slightly delayed connecting flight to Bangkok, which will put us at the hotel between 1 and 2 AM, Then we have to be up and at em for the Foodie Tour around 9:30. It starts at the Skytrain station which I think is a shuttle boat across from the Hilton.

First on Cathay was divine. My new favorite airline.

Aww, rub it in Leslie! We're "only" in Cathay Biz for our flights into Singapore in April...

Oh so good to see these photos of the beautiful Pandas while you're in Chengdu. That was such a VERY special experience for us to go there, I want to go back. Like you, we loved seeing the amazing Changing Faces show.

Peggy, so happy that you and Jerry have arrived in Bangkok and hopefully getting over jet lag.
Leslie & Brad...how lucky to fly first class on Cathay Pacific. Lucky you!

I'm already loving to read the TAJ postings.

This doesn't look like CP business at all. Lol


Very yummy looking.

Hello 5 am. Well, I've at least moved on from 4am. Also, hubby sick of eating alone as i haven't been able to stand the look or smell of food for several days. Doug hates hotel food and likes to try more interesting local places that are highly ranked. I think a glass of lime juice with ice at one the first day did me in and I am now subscribing to the Ngaire hotel food rule. Armed with my Cipro, easily available OTC from a pharmacy in Bangkok last night, I am a less nauseated girl.

We did the Siem Reap bit for 4 days on our own, and our hotel came with a car and driver and a guide. Thank goodness for the AC and cool towels that awaited us after each stop! To beat the heat, we started at 5, but our guide wanted to keep on going from temple to temple. We started out stupid at first, so the first day, realizing at 2 we had toured 9 hours already...we said STOP..HOTEL and never woke up again til dinner. From then on, we took the heat of the day off. The extreme heat made the temples and the Ali baba tourist pants a blur, so it wasn't much of a loss. The Cambodian people are wonderful...so earnest. We were taken to someone's home for a picnic lunch. They have no electricity outside the city except between 6 and 10 pm. While there were tubs and flushing toilets, they had no sinks. Our favorite parts of the trip were driving in the countryside or at night and watching the way of life. Families bathing together by their wells or in their lakes. Thank goodness we had...even with the extreme heat... No body odor issues. Thought it was funny that these short people love to play basketball-it is the favorite sport. Courts are everywhere..even in the middle of lakes. New, modern hotels..chains are popping up all over. ...Sofitel, Meridien, Hyatt...huge resorts, so I am sure the infrastructure will change. But now it is like stepping back 100 years. There are all sorts of junk markets in town for tourists and horrid, unsanitary looking fish pedicures with dead fish floating in them throughout the marketplace. Known as a spa capital, we eschewed culture our last day for our included spa package and Doug had his first facial ever (a man's facial) and experienced a Khmer massage while I opted for a kinder, gentler version to make me look younger and feel at peace with the universe. Doug decided he never wanted to get in a fight with his masseuse.

Rosy fingered dawn in Bangkok

We arrived at the hotel at 2:30 AM. Since I had a long ambien induced sleep on the way to Hong Kong I was unable to fall asleep again.

We got lucky on those Cathay ff seats for sure! We kind of backtracked a bit up to Chicago, but it was worth it I think.

Nice pics and nice Cathay pacific--definitely want to do that one sometime.

Can't wait to hear more about Chiangmai, Siem Reap and Bangkok. I'll be visiting this fall along with several stops in Vietnam.
Cathay First looks amazing, unless a miracle happens I'll be stuck in premium economy. Definitely going to need some ambien for that flight.

Keep the photos coming!!