Aloha Hawaii !!

To date, the MV Explorer has called at 14 different ports in 11 countries. We have one more stop to go and we will have circumnavigated the globe. Unbelievable!

Having docked in Honolulu we joined a wonderful bus tour around the island. (Hawaii is the most isolated land mass on the planet being 2,500 miles from any other land) Visited Diamond Head Crater where one gets a spectacular view of all the many beaches. Saw two hump-back whales
off the coastline of Makapuu Point. Stopped off at a rain forest at the top of Mt. Tantalus. Saw where Obama was born and where he graduated. Also saw where some of the very wealthy Americans have second homes on the island. Frangipani trees were everywhere. Many of the Hawaiian Leis are made from these wonderfully scented flowers. Glorious weather with the luxury of trade winds to cool things down. In the afternoon we took the local bus to Pearl Harbor where we were initially shown a very interesting film telling the story of the politics, the people and the attack on Pearl Harbor.We then took a short boat ride over to the Memorial. A visit to the USS Arizona Memorial is a very solemn and sobering experience, even for those who were not alive when the attack occurred (Me!). One is literally standing over a grave site where 1177 men lost their lives on December 7th 1941. 2390 men, women and children were killed - half of whom were on board the USS Arizona. This was the greatest loss of life in a single day by any ship in the US naval history. There are more than 900 men still entombed in the hull of the Arizona. One can still see several pieces of debris in the sea from the Arizona. The USS Arizona held approximately 1.5 million gallons of bunker oil. The ship apparently burned for 2½ days and currently the ship still leaks 2 quarts of oil each day. It was all quite eerie to see.

On a lighter note, the next day we spent on the beach at Waikiki. The boardwalk is full of very expensive shops and hotels. The beach,although quite narrow, has lovely white sands, crystal clear aquamarine color sea and is overlooked by Diamond Head Crater.We spent the whole day swimming in the sea, people watching, and enjoying seeing the many skillful surfers. We were amused to see one surfer who took his dog on the board with him - at one stage the surfer fell but the dog stayed on the board. Had a wonderful lunch at the Moana Hotel overlooking the ocean.This hotel was built in the late 19th century as the first hotel in Waikiki. In the center of the Hotel's courtyard there's an enormous Banyan tree. This tree was apparently seven feet tall when planted back in 1904 and now stands 75 feet high and spans 150 feet across the courtyard. There were huge bougainvillea bushes everywhere as well as other tropical plants.

We found the Hawaiian people very friendly with an interesting mix of cultures. Although the written Hawaiian language is based on English letters, there are only 8 consonants and five vowels. Honolulu has an excellent bus service and it's very cheap and easy to get around. Because we only had a 2-day stay in Hawaii we weren't able to get to see Kileaua Volcano on Hawaii's Big Island which has the world's most active volcano. We will have to be content with watching it on the TV Travel Channel.

Gus finished his lectures today and is now working on final exams. So this amazing voyage is nearing the end. Last night with had another "dark night" which is when all the ship's exterior lights are turned off so one gets a spectacular view of the thousands of stars. We arrive in Guatemala on Tuesday and will spend a night in Antigua which apparently is well worth a visit. We leave Guatemala on Thursday and travel through the Panama Canal onto Fort Lauderdale.





















Pearl Harbor

Springtime in Japan

Our Japanese visit began in Kobe which is a very cosmopolitan port city which was rocked by a disastrous earthquake back in 1995 causing over 5100 deaths. It is now a sprawling modern city with skyscrapers, monorails,wonderful shopping arcades and restaurants.

We decided to be adventurous (plus we were somewhat "templed-out" having seen so many shrines and temples) so we decided to explore Mount Rokko (931 meters). We took the cable car to the top. Wonderful view of the city and the plentiful cherry blossoms which were in full bloom.
We then decided to walk down. A possible mistake !! It took us 90 "long" minutes to climb down the mountain clambering over rocks, branches of trees etc. We were amazed to meet 2 mountain bikers en route who were literally flying over the bumpy terrain. Toward the end of our climb
down we met an elderly Japanese man who was watching us gingerly manoever our way down, and very graciously offered me his walking stick. (he was at least 80 but was obviously fitter than I was!) Our next day in Kobe we wandered around the city hoping to loosen our very stiff legs.

We then had one day of sailing up to Yokohama which is a far more attractive city with numerous parks filled with tulips, very attractive buildings. Early that morning we caught the bullet train up to Toyko where my nephew - Robert - met us. That train journey was amazing not only from the speed of the train, but it is so luxurious and literally glides along the rails. Robert works and lives in Toyko so was able to give us a wonderful tour of the city. We walked around the lovely parks surrounding the Emperior's Imperial Palace. Went to the 52nd floor of
the Mori Tower Building where the view is just spectacular.
We then visited Shibuyi which is like Time Square with highly decorated neon advertisements and giant video screens and thought to be the busiest pedestrian crossing in world - (think of Time Square and multiple the number of people by at least a thousand). There are 5 or 6 roads coming into the Square, all traffic stops at the same time, and pedestrians swarm across like ants! Before going out to dinner we went to Robert's apartment which has 2-bedrooms and a great view of the city. Having been offered a "luxurious" bath I was intrigued to see Robert push a button while sitting in the lounge, enquire what temperature I'd like the bath, then sit back with a drink until we heard the sound of a buzzer which indicated my bath was ready. The huge tub was filled with water and Robert explained that this was a "wet bathroom" which meant all the overflow bath water simply drained away. The adjacent shower was completely open and again the water just drained away from the floor.The separate toilet took some getting used to with 3 buttons offering gentle music, a bidet and a blow-dryer plus a lovely warm seat. Apparently Japan spends thousands of dollars on bathroom/toilet research. They are fastidious about hygiene - even if one orders a drink at a bar, a warm towel to wash one's hands is given out.

In the evening Robert took us to a theme restaurant called "Ninja". The entire restaurant is designed in the image of a ninja house, complete with secret passageways, drawbridges, waterfalls. Food is served by a “ninja” who also performs magic tricks for diners. It was a really fun experience. (Gus's appetizer arrived with a gush of steam created by dry ice on a shrimp filled grapefruit base with a Ninja sword through it.... very different!).Two of Gus's students were at another restaurant in Tokyo and sitting at the next table was John McCain who recognized the US accents and came over and talked to them and was very interested to learn about Semester at Sea. The following morning we took the bullet train back to Yokohama and had final look around before sailing that evening. The very first impression one gets of Japan is the gracious,polite, helpful people. Although one hears little or no English, the people go out of their way to help. We experienced several occasions when people stopped to help us. It's amazing how well one can communicate with one's hands. The other very immediate thing one notices in Japan is how beautifully dressed both men and women are. All the men wear very nice dark suits with white shirts & ties and the ladies wear beautifully tailored suits and high-heeled shoes.

We would have liked to have seen Mount Fuji but there just wasn't enough time - Japan is certainly a country worth visiting for its wonderful culture and gracious people.





Gus, Sue & Robert at restaurant













Gus's steaming grapefruit/shrimp appetizer, complete with sword!

Shanghai, China

People everywhere, endless Rolex Watch sellers and washing/laundry hanging from any and every possible line, pole or even branches of nearby trees - those will certainly be some of the memories of our 2-day visit to Shanghai. On every street corner someone is to trying to sell you a "genuine" (?) Rolex watch. One of the faculty bought 6 watches for $15.00 yesterday. According to our guide they're known as 7-day watches!
We enjoyed a city orientation tour - visited the Yu Gardens which is fully restored classical Chinese garden with lotus ponds, winding paths, canals, arched stone bridges and cobbled lanes. A very interesting, albeit touristy, visit. We then went to the Old Bazaar which is a maze of
curio and souvenier shops plus loads of open-air restaurants. After lunch we took a walk along the historic Shanghai Bund which is a seven mile long boulevard and gives one a fabulous view of all the enormous buildings overlooking the Huangpu river. It was interesting to see the various shapes and decorations on top of all the skycrapers - they ranged from flowers opening, to balls, spikes, and crenellations and are brightly lit up at night.

We then visited the Jade Buddha Temple which is an active temple with 70 resident working monks. We watched, and listened to 4 sets of monks worshipping/chanting. The temple was built between 1911 and 1918 in the style of the Song Dynasty, with symmetrical halls and courtyards,
upturned eaves, and bright yellow walls. Inside the centerpiece is a 1.9-meter-high white jade Buddha. The seated Buddha, encrusted with jewels, is said to weigh about one thousand kilograms.(We both sighed when we heard that we had yet another visit to a temple, but this one was really spectacular). We then did a tour of the Shanghai Museum where there are 120000 precious works of art including bronzes,ceramics, jades, and a wonderful display of Ming and Qing-dynasty furniture. It's divided up into ten sections and you could certainly spend all day looking at everything displayed.

In the evening we went to the Shanghai Center Theater and watched an amazing acrobat show. It was incredible. We have seen acrobatic shows before but this was the best. The show has been performed all over the world - it's a combination of traditional Chinese acrobatics with
modern performance techniques and great dancing.

What we didn't witness were the millions of Chinese in the sweat shops and struggling to survive in the rural areas. However, there was a lot of evidence of amazing growth and development and our brief trip to Shanghai was very interesting and enjoyable. There was certainly a drop in temperatures after steamy Saigon but it was great to be able to walk around comfortably. We are now en route to Kobe (Japan). Before we arrive in each country we have very interesting talks from inter-port lecturers. The 2 Japanese lecturers this morning wore wonderful colored kimonos and gave us very useful info and tips on the very different culture we will find in Japan.




Anyone for lunch ?

Pictured at a sidewalk restaurant