It has been a whirlwind of cruises the past few months and I find myself lagging severely in my posts on my blogs! I appreciate all of my followers and those who have been with me from the beginning. Hopefully I have made it a fun experience for you to travel along with me belatedly. Those who have those “bucket lists” and I hopefully provided you with some of my insights and experiences. In any case a big THANK YOU!
I’m not done with Asia, so I book back to back cruises on the NCL Spirit for a total of 34 days. Starting in Taipei, Taiwan and going south to countries like Hong Kong, Vietnam. Cambodia, Thailand, Indonesia, finishing with Western and Southern coasts of Australia. Thus, the name of this blog, Taiwan to Singapore and Part 2 will be Singapore to Sydney.
While there are a few repeat ports of call, there are a lot of new ones. Flying into Taiwan from Puerto Vallarta involved 2 airlines, WestJet and EVA. First, I will fly to Vancouver and then on to Taipei the day before. Arriving very early, I am pleased with the Park Taipei Hotel’s ability to get me a room fairly quickly and had an executive lounge for my waiting time. The nearby Starbucks was a plus, and I was able to use some time by there, with free Wi-Fi. I have to applaud Starbucks around the world in their ability to provide free Wi-Fi for all of their clients! The hotel also has a Swensen’s Restaurant famous for the Swensen’s ice cream, so of course, after dinner, I must have a chocolate sundae! It was chocolate overload!
I arranged an Uber to take me to the Taiwan West Passenger Terminal for my embarkation and home on the NCL Spirit for the next 45 days. Smooth embarkation for a change, and I am soon aboard to get settled in by arranging my Latitudes specialty events and lunch.
Our departure is in the afternoon, and we are off to our first port of call, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. This was going to be my 2nd time here, so don’t prebook any tours. However, due to weather problems, the captain decided to head directly to Hong Kong and we would arrive the evening before for an overnight there. That was certainly fine by me, so I get to the excursion desk and book the Open Top Bus and Temple Street by Night Tour for night time views of the city upon arrival.
The next day I had booked a different NCL Tour Panoramic Hong Kong to take me to the upper mountains and views of the city. The highlight stop is at Victoria Peak where there are not only fabulous views, but an actual full scale mall with shops and food vendors.
Our next port of call after a day at sea, wasa Hanoi, Ha Long Bay, Vietnam. I had booked the NCL Cruise Through Ha Long Bay in northeastern Vietnam and it was a fantastic place to see all of the island rocks in this area. A UNESCO world heritage site with its thousands of towering limestone islands topped by rainforests. It was a fairy tale scene, seen only best via a boat. Then a last minute hop on hop off bus takes me around the city of Ha Long nearby.
Things do not improve with the weather especially in southern Vietnam where there was severe flooding and cyclone activity, so our next 2 ports of call Nha Trang and Ho Chi Minh City are canceled. The captain is able to reroute us and we stop a few days later in Sanya, China. Sanya is known as the Hawaii of China and therefore does not require a visa, much like Hong Kong. Sanya was a pleasant surprise and I booked the NCL City Tour that took us around the city including views from above. Sanya, a city on the southern end of China’s Hainan Island, has several bays with large beach resorts. Yalong Bay is known for upscale hotels, while Wuzhizhou Island and its coral reefs are destinations for scuba diving, surfing and other water sports.
Finally back on track, after a day at sea we end up in Sihanoukville, Cambodia. I have booked the NCL Tour Highlights of Sihanoukville. Sihanoukville is a coastal city in southwest Cambodia, acting as the main gateway to southern islands like Koh Rong, but it has transformed into a, controversial “ghost town” of abandoned, unfinished Chinese-funded construction projects following a 2020 online gambling ban. Once a backpacker haven, it now features a surreal mix of massive, vacant skyscrapers, casinos, and slow economic recovery. We make our way to a temple with a reclining Buddha, then a golden Tigers roundabout sculpture, and finally to a beach for coconut water.
We are now headed to our primary stop at Laem Chabang, the port city of Bangkok, Thailand. I arrange several tours of the next 2 days including Best of Bangkok in a day and Bangkok Canals and Royal Barges.
Bangkok is the largest city in Thailand and the with a population of 11.5 million, it is also the capital of Thailand. Known for ornate shrines and vibrant street life. The boat-filled Chao Phraya River feeds its network of canals, flowing past the Rattanakosin royal district, home to opulent Grand Palace and its sacred Wat Phra Kaew Temple. Nearby is Wat Pho Temple with an enormous reclining Buddha and, on the opposite shore, Wat Arun Temple with its steep steps and Khmer-style spire. It is said that there is a temple every 500 meters in Bangkok. The queen mother had recently passed away, so there was a lot of mourning and tributes to her all around the city. I saw a lot of the key places, but this city deserves at least a week to explore. Especially if you want to experience the night life and vibrant food community, it is not done in a few days!
Our final port of call before Singapore the end of the first cruise, is to Koh Samui, Thailand. I have booked the NCL Tour Koh Samui Highlights. We have a bus tour here with stops including the Wat Plai Laem and Wat Phra Yai temples located on lakes. Thailand’s second largest premier resort island, known for its palm-fringed beaches, coconut groves, and mountainous rainforests. It is a popular, diverse destination catering to everyone from backpackers to luxury travelers, featuring major beaches like Chaweng, Lamai, and Bophut’s Fisherman’s Village.
We arrive in Singapore the next morning for cruisers to disembark and others to embark on the 2nd part of this repositioning cruise. The unique western and southern Australia route and many maiden ports has many Australians on board. Having toured Singapore before I only considered going over to the Observation deck of the Marina Sands Hotel for the day. Unfortunately, it was too rainy to really see anything so I did not bother.
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