This little seaside town provided a much-needed change of pace after Shanghai and Hong Kong. We took the Princess “Nha Trang Countryside” tour, which was actually quite interesting and would have been impossible to arrange on our own. We saw rice paddies, got up close and personal with water buffalos, and visited a home, local market, kindergarten, and an outdoor riverside restaurant in a beautiful setting
Phu My
Be forewarned: this is not a port city; there is nothing here but mud and a few scavenging taxi drivers. One couple made the mistake of hiring one to take them to Saigon but never made it out of Vung Tau (the town nearest the port) – the driver just kept taking them from one tourist trap to the next.
We did the Princess “Ho Chi Minh City On Your Own” tour, which included a two-hour drive to the Rex Hotel that was interesting in itself as everyday life in Vietnam unfolded before our eyes all along the way. The Rex Hotel is a 10-minute walk from the Ben Thanh Market and there is also a mall across the street. We explored the city center on foot, picked up a bottle of snake wine as a souvenir and conversation piece, and then settled down at window seats in Vietnam House restaurant on Dong Khoi Street for some good food and serious people watching. Afterwards, we wandered further along Dong Khoi and had coffee and dessert at an art gallery cum café whose name escapes me. Then back to the Rex to catch the coach back to the ship.
Note: If you find yourself stuck with Chinese yuan after Shanghai, you can exchange them for dollars at the Rex. The rate is usurious but it’s still better than having useless currency.
Singapore
Another port that is very easy to do on your own. We docked at the cruise center, which has maps and lots of tourist information available, along with several currency exchange booths. The Mt. Faber cable car was out of commission for the month of July so we started by taking the MRT (station is right there, just follow the signs) to the Raffles Hotel to take the obligatory pictures. (Note: The stop for the hotel is City Hall, NOT Raffles Place.) We then walked to the Sun City Mall, bought 24-hour city sightseeing passes for SGD23 each at the tourist hub, and hopped on one of the double decker buses to take the one-hour north-south (heritage) tour, which includes Chinatown, Little India, and the Arab District. We stayed on the bus to do a second loop, this time getting off to explore Little India. We chose for lunch a restaurant crowded with locals (C.M.K. Restaurant – Muslim Halal Food). All of the food was delicious although some was unrecognizable. Sturdy stomach and adventurous palate required.
After lunch we hopped back on the sightseeing bus and off again in the Arab District. Explored there then it was back on a sightseeing bus, this time to do the east-west (city) tour, which includes Orchard Road, Singapore’s Oxford Street. We got off at Raffles and took the MRT back to the cruise center and the Pacific Princess.
Kuantan
Here we took the Princess $8 shuttle to the Telok Chempedak public beach (30-45 minutes each way). There are restaurants at the beach (including a McDonald’s), and right next door is the Hyatt Regency Kuantan, where, for about $8 (payable by credit card) you can use their facilities (locker, pool, lounges). We enjoyed very good Malaysian food at the hotel restaurant for around $35 for two.
Note: The beach is clean and the water warm but there is no lifeguard. There are signs warning that you swim at your own risk when red flags are flying but a local resident told us that although it is only dangerous during the monsoon months, the flags fly year round.
Bangkok
After a seamless disembarkation, we left on the Princess “Highlights of Bangkok” tour, which included stops at the Temple of the Golden Buddha, the Royal Chapel of the Emerald Buddha, the Grand Palace, a Chao Phraya River cruise, lunch, and shopping. This was interesting (even fun) as tours go but a tour is a tour is a tour, meaning that you always spend way too much time waiting for laggards and end with a tourist trap of a shopping visit (in this case a jewelry factory with – surprise, surprise! – a large retail outlet).
Princess put us up at the quite decent Indra Regent Hotel (lots of street vendors nearby for last-minute shopping) for an operational overnight, which saw us leaving for the airport and home promptly at 4:00 am.
With its Beijing to Bangkok cruise, Princess has managed to put together an itinerary that offers an excellent balance of big city high-rise glitz and third world reality checks. The result is a very enjoyable and enlightening cruise that leaves you satisfied that you have sampled the real Asia in all its incarnations. In fact, we were so pleased with our trip that we plan to continue the adventure by taking the Bangkok to Mumbai cruise in August 2006.
