Our cruise took us to a number of exciting locations in Malaysia, Thailand and Burma. Rather than doing a long chronological blog, I thought I would just focus on a few aspects of our voyage.
By far the most colorful and exotic locales were the various temples that we came across in Penang, Phuket Island and Rangoon. Here are a few photos from the many thousands taken.
The Shwedagon Pagoda complex in Rangoon was by far the most stunning of all the places we visited. It is said to have been there in one form or another for over 2,600 years. However, it is more likely that it was built by the Mon people between the 6th and 10th centuries AD. I had been there before in 1976 when the city of Rangoon was quite bedraggled and the Strand Hotel was the place to stay because the rats were smaller and less aggressive.
What a transformation! The city center now boasts a beautiful green park, fountains, renovated Burmese and colonial buildings and, yes, the Strand Hotel has had a facelift and is probably free of rodents. We had magnificent lunch at a 5-star hotel. Then we were taken to the National Museum, followed by a visit to one of the largest reclining Buddhas in the world and, at about 5 o' clock in the evening, to the magnificent Shwedagon Pagoda high up on Singuttara Hill.
It was a Saturday evening and there were thousands of people walking, praying, singing, eating or just standing there overwhelmed by the sheer size and beauty of the whole scene. When I was last here in 1976, you had to tread carefully in your bare feet to avoid the dirt, droppings and betel nut expectorations.
Now, the marble floor gleamed in the evening sun and a phalanx of about 15 women volunteers circled the pagoda with brooms in hand, constantly sweeping the floor and thereby earning brownie points in the cosmic scheme of things.
On the left below, a beautiful temple building in Phuket, Thailand. On the right, Mama and Regee are framed against one of many golden figures and ornate carvings.
Below, some dramatic dragon heads and a blushing Thai bride on the right. There were also a lot of shops in the complex and, naturally, the ladies headed for the shade and the silks. This was one of the hottest days we experienced and it was good to stagger back to the air-conditioned bus. Earlier that morning, we had driven around most of the island and also visited a cashew nut factory. Did you know that there is only one cashew nut on each fruit and that they are very poisonous unless cleaned properly?
On the left above, we get to the mid-level. On the right, Regee and Mama start the long walk back down to the car park via many, many shops. Mama, who is almost 90, didn't break a sweat. I just hope we are all that fit when we get to our nineties. My wheel chair stopped working on step 143 and some of the larger members of the party did not achieve any level of happiness. At the end of the whole trip, we were pretty templed out.
By far the most colorful and exotic locales were the various temples that we came across in Penang, Phuket Island and Rangoon. Here are a few photos from the many thousands taken.
The Shwedagon Pagoda complex in Rangoon was by far the most stunning of all the places we visited. It is said to have been there in one form or another for over 2,600 years. However, it is more likely that it was built by the Mon people between the 6th and 10th centuries AD. I had been there before in 1976 when the city of Rangoon was quite bedraggled and the Strand Hotel was the place to stay because the rats were smaller and less aggressive.
What a transformation! The city center now boasts a beautiful green park, fountains, renovated Burmese and colonial buildings and, yes, the Strand Hotel has had a facelift and is probably free of rodents. We had magnificent lunch at a 5-star hotel. Then we were taken to the National Museum, followed by a visit to one of the largest reclining Buddhas in the world and, at about 5 o' clock in the evening, to the magnificent Shwedagon Pagoda high up on Singuttara Hill.
It was a Saturday evening and there were thousands of people walking, praying, singing, eating or just standing there overwhelmed by the sheer size and beauty of the whole scene. When I was last here in 1976, you had to tread carefully in your bare feet to avoid the dirt, droppings and betel nut expectorations.
Now, the marble floor gleamed in the evening sun and a phalanx of about 15 women volunteers circled the pagoda with brooms in hand, constantly sweeping the floor and thereby earning brownie points in the cosmic scheme of things.
On the left below, a beautiful temple building in Phuket, Thailand. On the right, Mama and Regee are framed against one of many golden figures and ornate carvings.
Below, some dramatic dragon heads and a blushing Thai bride on the right. There were also a lot of shops in the complex and, naturally, the ladies headed for the shade and the silks. This was one of the hottest days we experienced and it was good to stagger back to the air-conditioned bus. Earlier that morning, we had driven around most of the island and also visited a cashew nut factory. Did you know that there is only one cashew nut on each fruit and that they are very poisonous unless cleaned properly?
Below is the huge Chinese Temple complex in Penang, viewed from the car park. You have to climb up 200 steep stairs to get to the top level and then, if you are truly suicidal, climb up the main tower to reach "a state of perfect happiness". We were just fine reaching a state of moderate happiness at the lower level.
On the left above, we get to the mid-level. On the right, Regee and Mama start the long walk back down to the car park via many, many shops. Mama, who is almost 90, didn't break a sweat. I just hope we are all that fit when we get to our nineties. My wheel chair stopped working on step 143 and some of the larger members of the party did not achieve any level of happiness. At the end of the whole trip, we were pretty templed out.
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