Sounds like quite an ordeal Andi. Please make sure to write that up on the comment card so tours will be improved.

That tour sounds dreadful. Every once in awhile Regent really bombs on a tour. They have been responsive to complaints in the past.

Betty, did you and Andrea not go to Angkor Wat? Or did you substitute Burma?

Keep the reports and pics coming, I'm loving them!

Yes, reports and pixs are so appreciated!!!

So glad we bailed on that tour. We switched to Highlights of Sihanookville, which was not great, but not as bad as that.

First we visited the Snake House, a jungly resort complete with an impressive collection of vipers, boas, pythons, crocodiles, etc. Now I would not be terriblly keen on staying in a place where you are surrounded by creatures described on signs bearing skull wnd crossbones as "moderately" to "extremelly" venomous, many likely to cause "potential" or "probable" death. However, our guide proudly showed us the facilities, pointing out the bar and retaurant, describing how many rooms there were and the prices. $90 for a VIP room, $26 for a single, $30 for a double.

Then it was on to a temple, then a market visit, then a visit with a local family, a bit of a beach sojourn (which our bus unanimously voted to shorten to 1/2 hour - we all had to sign a paper to attest our unanimous agreement) and finally a 10 minute photo stop at a bridge built by Russians.

While driving from place to place our guide happily pointed out the gas station, twice, along with other wonderful sites to behold. He was very earnest but droned on in a bit of a scripted monotone and perhaps would be better suited to a different occupation. Nevertheless he was extremely happy that we were visiting and delivered us safe and sound to the ship 1/2 earlier than expected.

A few pix to come if I can get them uploaded.

Andi, when we visited Cambodia in April 2010, a good cruise friend Teresa said it best, Cambodia is the land God forgot....reading your excursion challenges, and remembering our short time there, Teresa's description of Cambodia is laser spot on.

We thoroughly enjoyed our Sihanoukville in Depth tour. We loved seeing kids at the school who sang for us and did some algebra at the blackboard. We had a very good guide. We saw an interesting temple and talked to one of the monks, who had actually been a student of our guide.

Then we had several hours at a five star resort, which we really liked. A very nice buffet lunch which international very good Asian food. Then we found chaises under a huge "umbrella" on the beach. The water was rather warm, and we didn't stay in very long. Later we migrated to the pool area, which was amazing. I could do laps despite a fair number of people around. The water was cooler, and there was a huge swim-up bar. At the end, we also visited the snake house. It was okay.

Had a lovely dinner with Ralph and June and the Simpsons in Sette Mari. We really enjoyed meeting another of Ngaire's sisters.

I hope to post some photos later.

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Eugene

Dinner in Compass Rose has been wonderful. They've added a Taste of Signatures & Prime 7 since my last Regent cruise, which is a great idea. I've enjoyed rack of lamb two nights in a row!

Finally a few spare moments to say hello. Been so nice seeing everyone - there are so many great people here. Lots of talking and catching up going on. Today Ken and I gave our tour tickets to another couple as they were on the waitlist and we have been here multiple times. We really enjoyed a "day at sea" and a leisurely lunch with Ralph and my sister June.

Dinner with Jim, Pam , Mark and Cheron tonight and we have hardly had anytime with Mark and Cheron so really looking forward to that.

Ship is running well, enjoyed all my meals since we have been onboard and have my menu selected for tonight.

Life is good!!

Tell everyone hi for us Ngaire....miss our LEOPARD buddies !

That's our Betty!! Thanks for thinking of us. Wish we were there too! But, we have one last ski weekend coming up in Maine. Going to get 40 days in this season. Not bad for workin' sitffs. We're enjoying your posts!

Andrea's photos are making me REALLY hungry.

Internet has been very difficult. Couldn't get on at all yesterday in Singapore. We and the Simpsons went to Orchard St. via the MRT in the morning. Then in the afternoon we took Singapore's Iconic Tour in the afternoon, and it was very good. Had a terrific, eloquent guide. It included several relatively short stops, including getting a Singapore Sling at Raffles, which was fun. We also took a 30-minute cruise on the Singapore River. It poured at the end, but that was okay. Wasn't a very pretty day, but we enjoyed it. It could have been a little shorter as it took 45 minutes from the time we went to get our tour bus tickets and actually left the port at 2:30 PM. We didn't return until 6:45 PM. Quickly changed for dinner, which was very good. I'm going submit this in case, I lose the connection. Will try again with posting photos.

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Eugene

For some reason I (and others) are having trouble getting into Photobucket. I'll have to talk to Ken H later to see if he has any ideas. I have a number of photos ready for posting, but that is the only system with which I'm familiar. I sure hope it gets resolved.

I practices at home to refresh my memory and had no troubles. Here, I can't even get into the Photobucket Web site.

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Eugene

Can't get photobucket to load at all on my iPad so I need to look into alternatives for posting a few pix.

Yesterday morning we went over to Sentosa Island via the cable car that leaves right from the pier. We visited the Butterfly and Insect garden and Underwater World. Although we missed the official dolphin show, the pink dolphins decided to do a bit of showing off for us anyway.

Brad headed back to the ship first. Andi, Doug and I checked out lunch prices at the Shangri La resort, but declined to pop for $25 burgers. We boarded the cable car just as it began raining, then pouring, so we were lucky to miss that. We had fun fish foot massages and then a half hour of reflexology before going back to the ship.

Today's port is Kuala Lumpur.

After the death march in Cambodia, and since we'd been to Singapore, we decided to opt out of any tours for one day. Culture wasn't the word for the day, but fun was, and when we found out Sentosa Island was next door to where we docked,we thought it sounded fun.

8 of us, including Leslie and Brad, Polly and George, Meredith and Bo (Ngaire's clients burnout LTC) all decided to give it a go. Tou take a cable car over to this huge Disney resort like island. There are resorts...golf courses, over the water bungalows, Hard Rock Hotel, etc., really extensive water parks, zip lines, luges, amusement rides, Universal Studios, aquarium, nature trails....all sorts of things to separate you from your money.

We just did a couple of things for that reason alone. Each attraction...kaching.

We were like kids in the butterfly garden...I've never seen such huge butterflies. Some were really beautiful. We had a brand new baby walk on us. And there were the cute parrots. There were also the largest beetles and scorpions in the world. Pretty interesting exhibit.

We then voted on the aquarium.highlights for me were the baby sharks and the prenatal sharks ( you could see them wriggling around in thir pods). Ofcouse, the pink dolphins were really cute.

The architecture of some of the new buildings is really wild. I can't wait until some of the folks can get their pics up.

The fish pedicure...I'm a regular now whenever in Singapore..topped off our day. Doug, Leslie and I now have the softest feet on the ship.

The dinners with the group have been so much fun. Everyone gets along so well and laughs a lot.

Yesterday was Kuala lumpur, Malayasia. I was really concerned we had chosen another doozy of a tour.this was was called Handicrafts and Countryside. It included a 1 hr and 15 minute ride to the city to see the twin towers which were the highest buildings until a few years ago, then a pewter factory and then some caves and then the ride back. Most of our group did either the highlights or created a sea day.

The city portion of the tour was a drive by / parking lot photo shoot. The pewter factory was actually fun.we got a tour of the manufacturing and creation of pewter and then we actually got to make our own bowl. We were given aprons which said"school of hard knocks" and then started banging them out. Why a pewter factory? It seems that this area was developed around the abundance of tin, which is a key component of pewter. Today, this factory has to import the tin, so all that is left is the manufacturing. But, back to the tour... It was a very modern facility with only the visitor areas air conditioned. After watching workers actually making the pieces and then being allowed to bang out our own, like children we compared our rudimentary pieces with one another, taking photos proudly. I think, though, that they really wanted to show us how hard it was to make something that looked lovely and they had beautiful, but costly, things in their showroom. Doug and I resisted, however tempted, and went off to the Bantu caves,

We arrived at the caves and the monkeys...I attempted the 252 vertical stairs but backed out but i heard they were nice. We have plenty of caves back home without a gazillion stairs. Last night, many of us has dinners with the staff and lots of interesting discussions. Food was great.

At some point, we may opt for a do it yourself day again. Today is a cooking class. And spice fields. Luck please as I hear thunder.

Yesterday, we took the KL Highlights tour. We departed the pier and drove along the modern highway to Kuala Lumpur. We had an energetic guide whose name was Ning. We soon learned that because it was a Friday, two of the stops would be closed—the Blue Mosque and the Hindu temple. In addition, Friday afternoon is the worse traffic of the week, and we believe it.

Anyway, we stopped at the “Blue Mosque” – the Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah Mosque, one of the country's most beautiful structures for a photo stop. The Mosque has 470-foot minarets, which are the world's tallest.

Leaving the Mosque, we continued on to the Sri Kandaswamy Kovil Hindu Temple. This huge temple is one of the most prominent Sri Lankan or Ceylonese Tamil temples in Malaysia, and has become a popular tourist attraction in Kuala Lumpur. The temple architecture is believed to have been inspired by the Nallur Kandaswamy Temple in Jaffna, Sri Lanka.

We also visited Thean Hou Temple. This striking, six-tiered temple is regarded as one of the biggest Chinese temples in Southeast Asia, and is home to the patron Goddess Thean Hou of the Hainanese community.

We also made a photo stop will then be made at the King's Palace, or Istana Negara.
Then we went to the National Monument. Designed by acclaimed sculptor Felix De Weldon, this 50-foot-tall bronze monument was constructed in 1966.

Your tour will conclude at Independence Square, you will see the 328-foot flagpole marking the spot where the Malaysian flag was hoisted on August 31, 1957, to commemorate the country's independence from British rule.

Because of traffic, again we had to quickly shower and change for our dinner with the General Manager Franck Galzy and the Simpsons and the Kneedys. We knew Franck, and he is a great dinner companion. Unfortunately, he had hurt his neck but was a trooper and contributed immensely to the overall evening. Six of us had the freshly caught sea bass in an Asian sauce as our main course, and it was very good.

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Eugene

thanks for the reports.

TEST FOR SMUGMUG, LARGE.


Cochin, India - the Kerala Backwaters on our trip in 2005.


Hangzhou, China at a tea plantation

LARGE works, Ken, loving the pix!

Me & a couple of my new friends in Penang, Malaysia!

Penang, Malaysia brought the 1st rain of my trip. Sure wish I could have sent it north to Myanmar but our guide was thrilled it had come here. No rain in 2 weeks. I did a Georgetown highlights tour which concluded with tea at the E & O Hotel. (Built by the same bros as Raffles in Singapore). Beautiful old building with the obligatory bar. It had a wonderful gift shop so naturally retail therapy was in order. Georgetown is another interesting town that combines Indian, Chinese, Malaya and British cultures. Took a walk down a "street" of Jetty Town - where the Chinese have built their homes on stilts over the water. If you live there you pay no taxes. Although interesting and full of culture, I think I would opt to pay the tax man. Naturally several temples were involved in this tour - but many of us are already "templed" out. And the cruise has barely begun! Also a stop at the Peranakan Museum of Penang. Very interesting and colorful. The Peranakans are the people of mixed race (Chinese men marrying Malaysian women) - one of those historical facts I did not know. Their homes, clothing and furnishings are beyond elegant. I enjoyed it very much.
Tonight is dinner with Peggy, Jerry and the Regent HR woman. Looking forward to that also. Then tomorrow........Elephants!

Enjoying everyone's travelogues. Interesting Eugene about your guide telling you that the mosque had the tallest minerets in the world, as our guide in Casablanca told us the same thing. Maybe this mosque has been built since then, that was in 2007.

Andrea - you are a brave woman, wouldn't have gone within 20 feet of that snake.

Is that a snake on your head? That's a fashion statement that I will definitely be passing on.

I love your posts Andi!!!

Posting for Eugene:

Pix from Sihanoukville, Cambodia

Singapore

Penang Spice Trail and cooking demo. In the rain.

Kuala Lumpur highlights. Blue Mosque, Hindu and Buddhist Temple

Kuala Lumpur highlights. National Palace, Monument, Independence Square

Elephant princesses!!

Thanks to Karen for posting some of my photos. Our connection is so limited that I can't even see them on LCT. I think Ken said photobucket is totally blocked at this point. I hope you can see them. Anyway, Leslie's photos look great, so unless something gives, I may relinquish the responsibility.

We had a great day in Phuket despite the fact that our excursion was canceled to Phi Phi Island because of winds. We, the Kneedys, and the Waterhouses went to Kata Beach. Franck Galzy had recommended it. Although we hoped to get a day pass at the resort, we weren’t able to. We even tried to rent a room for a full day. But the beach next to the resort had umbrellas and chaises, so for $7 a couple we got those. We ate lunch at an outdoor restaurant on the resort's property, and it was quite good and reasonable. The water was fantastic, and the clouds kept the heat tolerable. The wave action was impressive. Unfortunately, there was a number of surfers, and they were in midst of us, so that was a bit nerve wracking. Some looked like they were inexperienced 12 year-olds.

Tonight was Liar’s Club. Now they have an audience panel also who votes. Lucky me; I got picked for the four-person panel. We vote after the audience votes with applause for each "liar." We can agree or disagree with the audience. We didn’t do very well. As usual, no one ever heard of any of the words.

We’re on our way to Sri Lanka with two sea days. Then it’s straight through without anymore. Boo.

Will post soon with or without photos.

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Eugene

From what I heard on cruise last week, the internet is being revamped and was supposed to be twice as fast as it used to be. This was to occur on April 2nd. I never noticed any difference after the upgrade, if anything, it was slower.

Was it an April Fools Day joke?

Saturday: Georgetown is a very pretty area of the island of Penang in Malaysia. A tropical island, it is usually hot and humid and nice 365 days of the year with maybe a thunderstorm for an hour or two. We were treated to rain cats and dogs style for the day. Rain pelted the gorgeous coastline dotted with fancy high rise resorts, which we were told are always filled with beach goers. Not that day! We were thankfully given rain ponchos in red, blue, green and yellow which made us look like giant condoms walking about the spice gardens in the torrential rain. It was quite an interesting and wet walk and we made our way to the outdoor cooking demonstration, which, while it had a roof, was drippy and the rain was very loud. We had a demonstration on how to make Malaysian chicken and naan and quickly gobbled it up, before rushing back to our dry buses, having had a soggy but yet not unenjoyable time.others in the group on other tours got to have tea or play with giant snakes, so we all had fun, but it was too bad about the weather as the town looked charming.

Sunday: Hi ho hi ho, it's off to fun I go...if only I didn't have to wear a bathing suit..

Before I go off to my bath, a few quick notes on Regent. There is bit of a class system in the hotels. We were lucky to have grabbed the wonderfully located and priced G suites. However, we were put up in the rather mediocre Hilton in Bangkok while others who, of course, paid more for the same suite on a different floor were put up in the luxurious Shangri La or Peninsula. Also, the more expensive suites have Hermes versus L'Occitane toiletries. This suits me just fine as they have my favorites and my dear sugar cube bath pellet ...no longer sold in the states...which I am scrounging from non bath takers. What an unexpected windfall!

Such a fun day in Phuket (Sunday) and sadly we are leaving my new favorite country, Thailand. We even topped it off (Peggy, Ken S., Doug and I with a trivia win). Eugene, Gail, Mark, Cheron, Doug and I piled into a van that Eugene had arranged and we went off to see the Big Buddha which is a very big Buddha and then we went off to the beach, about 1/2 hour away. We rented some chairs, slathered on sun tan lotion and frolicked in the water as warm as bath water. There wasn't a bit of humidity in the air and we all took turns in the water, eating, and watching our valuables. The waves and undertow were quite rough, but we were there from about 10:30 til 3 and it was great. The only negative was having to actually strip down to a bathing suit in front of people who know me and to watch my hair grow worse and worse as the day wore on.

This was the second day of a big bus tour we bagged and i don't regret it one bit. How can you come to Thailand and not see and experience the beautiful beaches? Others said that they had a good day though not only watching rubber being collected but watching rubber actually being made. They also had a boat trip through an area somewhat similar to Halong bay in Vietnam. Others did retail damage looking for Jim Thompson outlets. If you stayed on the ship or by ship, there were lots of vendors both in and out ready to separate you from your money.

We also had the neighborhood party where we all grabbed a glass and chatted up our hall neighbors, then the usual meet for drinks and canapés in the Observation Lounge, followed by the usual feed your face in one of the restaurants and then topping that off by watching the Liars Club, whereby 4 staff members made up stories about the definitions regarding an esoteric word and you have to figure out who is telling the truth about the correct definition. Always good fun.

We received a note on our beds yesterday preparing us to lower our expectations regarding ports on the Indian Sea. We were warned that 1) tour guides may have very strong accents and may speak quickly. We have been directed to politely mention to speak more slowly or to repeat a comment. 2) "venues may not be so grand or as prepared, but still will be interesting as their history and significance is described. We encourage you to appreciate the local people with a good heart keen to share their local culture and history." 3) coaches may not be the newest, most comfortable, or have the strongest A/C but are the best available. 4) bathrooms- not up to western standards and not as many.

So, we will put on our big girl or boy Depends, bring both canes, prepare to sweat our asses off, and no complaining. I'm sure it will make for some great stories! Only two sea days to rest up for the next leg and no more! If the going gets too rough...I see a sea day in the making. Lol

It was quite an ordeal to get those photos up, but I now have a solution. First I make a collage out of a number of photos and save it in a small size so I only have one photo to upload to Smugmug where I can get the posting code. Probably almost everyone onboard has an iPad, tablet, phone or laptop, so it is not like the days when you had to use a ship's computers. Even if they double the bandwidth it will probably still be an issue, but this has been tortuously slow.

Has anyone tried to upload to Picasa or any other storage site and then just link to the pix in a post instead of posting each picture?

Leslie, hope you will tell Eugene how you are doing this! I always enjoy everyones photos, too. Seems Karen is having to do his, and he could likely give us a whole lot more if you show him.

I had such a different day in KL on my cruise on SS, except for the National Memorial, which mirrors my own pictures. We went to no temples, but I do remember many other places. Have to find the pictures, except they'd have no place on this thread

Posting for Eugene: