14th March
CHAN MAY, VIETNAM
When I opened the curtains this morning I was really surprised to be faced with thick sea fog!!! Couldn’t see a thing but as we were going slow I thought we must be nearly there. Suddenly the dock appeared and we were about to tie up so that’s how thick it was! It all looked really eerie with harbour cranes looking like tall monsters looking down on you.
Chan May is a cargo port with absolutely nothing there but still a few stalls were setting up on the quay side. We were on a tour to go to Hue, an old imperial city situated a 1 1/2 hours coach ride away. Once away from the port the fog disappeared to reveal a slightly overcast sky but still very humid and hot. Our first stop was at the Citadel and Imperial City, and the Forbidden Purple City. Very much like the Forbidden City in China but in a very much smaller scale but now a UNESCO World Heritage site. We then went on to the Thien Mu Pagoda ( otherwise known as The Heavenly Lady) and is a tall structure overlooking the wide Perfume River where you can go on a dragon boat ride.
A buffet lunch in a very nice hotel followed then after we went to the Tu Duc Mausoleum. Sounds rather dreary but in fact it was set in lovely gardens with a river running through it, a large pond with beautiful water lilies and the mist amazing Oleander trees. Evidently the Nguyen dynasty ruler who is buried there had 104 wives but no children !!!!
Our last stop was at a few stalls set up on the road side for anyone who wanted a memento of the places then off we set back to the ship.
To say our journey back and forth on Vietnamese roads was eventful would be an understatement! Bikes and mopeds were EVERYWHERE! Weaving in and out, not stopping at junctions but stopping in the centre of a main road, pulling out in front of anything hoping it will stop and I’m sure they’re all Kamikaze pilots!!!!! There were mopeds with a whole family on ( including the goat), bikes with a years supply of fire wood tied on, babies perched on the handles of a moped while the mother holds on the 15 shopping bags and even an old man with about 10 chickens in a cage balanced on the back! There were ladies cooking meals on the side of the roads on small fires they had built, washing hanging in trees to dry next to shacks with chickens running around. Most looked very poverty stricken but also ...... most had mobile phones !
We had a great day, saw lots of rice paddy fields, buffalos, fishermen in their round wicker boats and farmers with their round, conical hats on tending their crops. The sun was trying to get through all day but didn’t quite make it but glad it didn’t really as it was hot enough as it was.
Sailed away at 6pm with the sail away party on the back deck in full swing.
We now have 2 sea days before reaching our next stop of Singapore.

15 & 16th March
AT SEA
As we sailed the South China Sea towards Singapore the weather turned increasingly hot and humid with hardly any breeze. Dolphins and flying fish have been spotted and very many other ships and boats. Many dips in the pool were required especially after playing quoits.
Our new Captain who took over in Hong Kong is hilarious with his 9am bulletins he gives us every morning. Yesterday he said “ he hoped to get through the skinny bit of water between Borneo and Thailand to get to Singapore but wasn’t quite sure where it was. If anyone spotted a line of ships to let him know so that he can tag on and follow them and hopefully get us there.” Today his message was that he hadn’t found any ships so thinks he took a wrong turn leaving Chan May and turned left instead of right !!!
Trouble is, I’m sure there will be someone on board that’ll think he’s serious !!!!!!