Cochin, India

NOTE: Pictures of Taxi, Synagogue and Chines Fishing Nets

Today, we had the opportunity to visit Cochin, India. This is a port of the world, which is not often frequented by Passenger Cruise Ships. Rather, Cochin is the commercial hub of the Indian state of Kerala. It does have a very impressive harbor for a commercial port.

Cochin has several tourist sites. There is an area known as Jewish Town, which is home to an historic Jewish Synagogue. There is also the St. Francis Church which is the oldest European church located on Indian Soil. Other areas include the Mattancherry Palace, Willington Island, which is a manmade island that is home to the areas finest hotels, and the Chinese fishing nets, which are located in Fort Cochin. There are several major shopping centers and other stores and the best buys are metal ware, grass mats, camel-bone carvings, and woodcarvings.

Once again, we woke up early this morning after enjoying another very nice sleep on board the ship. We find it so easy to get a good nights sleep on the ship. The waterways continued to be very calm and we never hear anyone from our room. It is amazing how quiet the ship is.

Keith arrived to the Fitness Center a little earlier than normal since we had a shore excursion scheduled for this morning. Keith spoke with Mary as he worked out on the Elliptical Machine and Anne Marie enjoyed a nice workout on the Treadmill. John was also working out along with a few other passengers.

After our workout we went back to our room where our breakfast was already set-up and waiting for us. While we enjoyed breakfast, we could see the beautiful shoreline and the town of Cochin. We got a glimpse of the famous Chinese Fish Nets. The architecture, particularly the rooftops of the buildings, was much prettier than we expected it would be and the landscape, which included many beautiful trees along the shoreline, was even more beautiful looking than we anticipated. In just a few minutes we already had a very positive impression as we descended on our first port of call in India.

While we were waiting for the ship to be cleared we saw about ten different uniformed guards on the pier. A few were standing near our gangway and others were positioned in other areas of the pier. This was not unusual, but a surprise was that each one of them had automatic guns along with a handgun.

Captain Glenn gave the word at around 8:00 AM that ship was cleared by local authorities for us to go ashore. Captain Glenn’s through of the day

Our ship docked at Ernakulam Wharf, which is located approximately six miles from the center of the city. Local taxi and transportation unions prohibit cruise lines such as Crystal from providing a complimentary shuttle. Taxis from the pier to the city center ran around $4.00. United States currency is readily accepted. A local bank did come on the ship to exchange money but we did not utilize this service given that we knew we could use USA currency.

This was one of the ports of call that Crystal recommended that travelers not wear jewelry ashore and to leave other valuable items on the ship. In addition, information was provided to be careful about eating ashore. Consistent to what the travel doctor had mentioned the other day, many dishes prepared in various areas around the world do contain certain microbes to which Westerners are not immune. We usually avoid eating ashore in most areas of the world unless we are on along shore excursion, which includes a lunch. And, when a lunch is included we are careful what we eat. The shore excursion that we selected for today and for our upcoming visit to Mumbai was short enough in duration so that there was no need for us to eat off the ship. If this were not the case, then we would plan to bring a box lunch off the ship. This is not always possible in some ports of call such as Australia which prohibit taking food ashore, but in other ports such as India this would have been fine.

We began our tour with a thirty-minute drive until we reached our first site; St. Francis Church, which is the oldest European church on Indian soil.

Our next stop in Fort Cochin offered us the opportunity to see the Chinese fishing nets. They are still used today by the locals to catch fish and during our visit we did see them in use. These nets were first introduced to the area between 1350 and 1450.

We then traveled a short distance to the Jewish settlement of Mattancherry and we visited the Mattancherry Palace. We also visited the Jewish Synagogue. It was built during the 18th Century and we thought it was in excellent condition. We had to remove our shoes to enter the Synagogue. We then had about forty-five minutes to walk around the town and we visited a few different stores; including a spice market.

We also visited a very nice craft market run by the government. The market sold a variety of items from spices, to beautiful wooden furniture, to tablecloths, napkins and other items for the home.

Our tour guide was quite informative.

Cochin is an Island with 1.8 million inhabitants. The areas that we visited were fairly congested. Many of the locals traveled in buses. While not as packed with people as the buses in Myanmar they were still packed with people with almost no room to move. Most of the taxis had one tire on the front of the vehicle and two in the rear and would mainly hold a driver and two passengers. There were also cars for hire and these cars while in nice shape looked to be from the 1950’s and 1960’s. Similar to Vietnam, our bus driver used his horn almost non-stop to let those in front of him to either speed up or move over to the side of the road. There were no traffic lights. While a little chaotic at times things were much more organized than say what we’ve been told about our upcoming visit to Mumbai.

There are a variety of drivers of the local economy. Many of the men are fishermen, and many of the women make carpets and rope. There are now a fair amount of goldsmiths who make jewelry. The export of spices is important to this areas economy along with the export of items such as prawns and rubber.

The people that we spoke with were very pleasant but clearly those in many of the stores we visited depend on tourism. The majority of the Hindus wake each morning at between 5:30 and 6:00 AM to music that can be heard from the nearby temples. After waking up they immediately take a bath and then they go to temple each day.

On our drive we passed a variety of places in relatively decent condition along with some very poor areas. We passed a public outdoor area where most of the people who live in the nearby area dry their clothes in the open space. Adjacent to that area was a public garbage dump where we could see locals going through the garbage to look for items to keep.

Outside the tourist spots were locals trying to sell us a variety of items and in a couple of areas we did encounter quite a bit of begging.

The people that we saw were not overweight as we see to often in other areas of the world. They were on the light side in terms of their body weight.

The people who we had the opportunity to meet throughout our time in Cochin spoke English very well. There is still high unemployment in India and this area of India is no different. Some people though are reaping the benefits of the emerging economy through the outsourcing of jobs from other parts of the world such as the United States of America and Europe. As such, there are many highly educated and skilled people in this country performing complex tasks in technical areas such as telecommunications, and in the IT (Information Technology area). While some are now enjoying the benefits of the emerging economy they still represent the minority, with most citizens living a very challenging life and hoping to have enough money to have food and some type of place to live in. With this said, India is a developing country and in-time should continue to grow economically.

Visiting places such as this is a reminder how fortunate and, yes, lucky, to be living where we are today.

When we arrived back to the ship we enjoyed another wonderful salad entrée that we had pre-ordered before we left the ship. During the afternoon, we took a very nice long walk on the Promenade Deck.

This evening we dined for the second consecutive night at the Silk Road Japanese Specialty Restaurant. We were invited by another couple to join them for dinner this evening. This couple has taken many World Cruises with Crystal but due to some health issues they were unable to travel on last years World Cruise. They are an amazing couple. When the man was quite young he lived in Germany and was very fortunate that his family made the decision for the family to leave Germany about one month before it would have been impossible to leave this country. His family settled in Mexico where he eventually met his wife. We met them on the bus that took us from the pier in Bangkok to the Oriental Hotel for our overnight stay in Bangkok and since that time have spoken with them from time to time. Interestingly enough, their room is located right next to our room. They are both very kind individuals who have a wonderful outlook on life and we appreciate the kindness they have shown to us since we first met them.

We enjoyed a wonderful dinner with them in Silk Road along with a wonderful conversation.

We have described some of the other menus but have shared less about our dinners at Silk Road. We usually start off with a nice platter of sushi. There is a special menu for Sushi. Keith has become a bit more adventurous and does have some Sashimi. Keith normally has Yellowtail Sashimi with Jalapeno, a small order of new-style Sashimi of scallop, some tuna Sashimi and then we order a variety of sushi and sushi rolls which are all cooked such as shrimp, a house special roll, a soft shell crab roll, a California roll, smoked salmon sushi, a vegetable roll and even a few items that we have learned about that are not on the menu.

We then order a nice entrée. Sometimes we get a sampler box of scallops, cod, and some other item such as broiled eggplant or some other item, along with a bowl of rice. The last couple of times in lieu of this entrée, Keith has ordered Hot Soba Noodles, served in a large bowl of excellent broth (soup) with scallops. Anne Marie has also tried that. We then finish our meal with a delicious fruit plate along with decaffeinated coffee for Anne Marie and we find that they make a very unique and delicious cup of coffee in this specialty restaurant and Keith has the green tea. Once every few weeks Anne Marie enjoys a wonderfully tasting Chocolate Soufflé Cake.

When we have sailed on the ship for a one segment cruise we normally also have one of the wonderfully prepared salads with our favorite being the Mushroom Salad. The mushrooms are served warm, and between the mushrooms, the unique dressing it makes the salad come to life. We have also in the past had their spicy seafood soup which has a very unique taste.

At the same time, Silk Road offers so many other choices from a variety of appetizers such a tempura, spring rolls, king crab and so forth, three wonderful choices for soup, three wonderful salad choices followed by a nice selection of entrees. A favorite of many is the beef that is available and several passengers have remarked that it is the best tasting beef that they have ever been eaten. Let us not forget about dessert. There are a variety of desserts to choose from.

There is also a Sushi Bar offering some seating on a first come basis and provides a wonderful opportunity to watch the artistic ability of the Sushi Chefs as they prepare the Sushi. On some segments it is very popular. There are also some tables that are by the sushi bar area that are designated as such by not having table cloths where one can be seated without reservations and also on a first come basis. The rest of the restaurant had lovely white tablecloths on each table and reservations are necessary. The menu, recipes and overall concept of this restaurant has been developed by celebrated chef Nobu Matsuhisa. The quality, preparation and the taste of the food is unbelievable. Chef Nobu has restaurants located in several major cities in the United States and around the world. Over the years, we have had the opportunity to talk with several fellow passengers who live in Japan and they adore this restaurant.

During the course of each of the World Cruise Segments there have been a number of special events from time to time for all passengers and this evening was no exception. This evening an event was added to the schedule called the Sari Starry Night Cocktail Party. Complimentary cocktails were served and their was live music for dancing and everyone’s listening pleasure. The theme of this event was clothing. Passengers were invited to wear clothing items that they may have purchased during this segment of the cruise, which began in Singapore. This provided a nice opportunity for passengers to wear any clothing items that they purchased. It was a cute idea and it’s so nice that there have been many events such as these for all of the passengers.

We are now sailing towards Mumbai, India. Tomorrow we will have a full day at sea and are scheduled to arrive in Mumbai the following morning. Our ship will enjoy an overnight stay in Mumbai.

Keith & Anne Marie

En Route To Cochin, India

We really had a very nice time at last evenings Country Fair. We stayed a couple of hours, as did many of our fellow passengers. There were lots of games to play and it was fun to socialize with both our fellow guests and the crew. Food and beverages were served from hot dogs to popcorn to beer, wine, soft drinks and ice cream. There was a water-dunking contest that featured a couple of officers including the Captain. Keith was one of the passengers who tried to get the captain soaked and while he hit a bulls eye it must have not been hard enough as the water didn’t come down. As we mentioned yesterday, it’s wonderful to see guests of all ages playing and enjoying themselves. This type of event brings out the child in all of us. Speaking of children, there are a few on board for this segment of the cruise and as you can imagine they also had a wonderful time along with the adults.

We awoke early this morning to begin our day on board the Crystal Serenity. Keith enjoyed a wonderful workout in the Fitness Center. He was able to catch the last half of the final four NCAA basketball tournament featuring the first of the two game doubleheader while working out on the Elliptical Machine.

Anne Marie took advantage of the sea day and did the wash in the laundry room and then Keith helped her after he worked out. We then enjoyed a wonderful breakfast in our room.

After breakfast, Keith played Table Tennis with the same three other people who he has been playing with the past couple of days. This includes two fellow guests and the pianist. They played several games of doubles table tennis for almost two hours and they all had a wonderful time.

This morning there were two great lectures given by two wonderful speakers.

Destination Lecturer Jay Wolff gave the first lecture of the morning. The title of his presentation was “The Tah Majal – A Teardrop in Time.”. He talked about the Mughals weep into India from the North and how they created one of the world’s great empires. He spoke how their emperor Shah Jahan who was rich beyond the dreams of avarice, built a mausoleum for his beloved wife and in doing so he helped to create the most beautiful building in the world. Anne Marie attended this lecture and thought it was wonderful and Keith missed this one because he was playing table tennis. Keith was able to view the presentation later in the day on one of Crystal’s internal television networks.

Dr. Harm de Blij gave the second presentation of the morning and the topic of his presentation was “China and America: Averting a Class of Civilizations.” We both attended this lecture and, once again, it was wonderful. Dr Nlij is a dynamic speaker who is so knowledgeable about so many areas of the world. He will be on part of new years World Cruise and he talked about various areas that will be part of the last couple of segments of next years world cruise.

He covered a variety of topics including our relationship with China today and in the future, how China is conducting its business around the world and how our relations with Japan at times affects our relationship with China. He also talked about changes occurring with the worlds temperatures and how the sea levels are rising and how that will impact several areas in China and he also talked about earthquakes that tend to occur every 70+ years in Tokyo and how they are overdue for their next earthquake and how that fault can potentially result in the worst earthquake relative to any other area in the world.

After Dr. Blij’s presentation, we enjoyed a very nice lunch. Today, was the Grand Gala Buffet which is always a festive time for lunch on each of the Crystal ships.

We enjoyed a wonderful lunch in the Main Dining Room. We had pre-ordered lunch in the dining room. At the same time, today was the Grand Gala Buffet lunch which includes a wonderful array of appetizers, salads, hot and cold entrees, cheeses and rolls, fruit, vegetables and of course, a whole array of cakes, pastries and other dessert goodies.

In the afternoon, we attended another great presentation that was given by author and bo reviewer Robert Adams. He presented The Picture of Dorian Gray, which was written by Oscar Wide. Robert Adams has a very unique style of presenting authors and their works of arts. He is a very passionate lecturer and it is though he is performing in a one-man play.

Before dinner we attended a performance given by Grammy Nominated Stride Pianist Judy Carmichael. She has been playing table tennis with Keith and the two other passengers the past couple of days. Drummer Danny Mullowney and Saxophonist Grant Tharp accompanied her. We enjoyed this show and this is one of several entertainment programs featured this evening. At 8:00 PM there was a thirty-minute performance featuring tunes from the 1950’s and 1960’s performed by the acappella quartet group that has been performing throughout the World Cruise by Full Sail. This was followed by two shows given by comedian Kenny Smiles. This evening included other entertainment such a Thomas Daniels who played piano in the Crystal Cove from 5:15 PM and to 6:00 PM. And from 9:30 PM to 10:30 PM We have enjoyed listening to him playing the piano throughout the World Cruise. In another venue there is another piano player, John Mentis who played piano from 6:45 PM to 7:30 PM and from 10:00 PM to 1:00 AM. John Mentis has played piano throughout the World Cruise and has performed for several consecutive World Cruises. At the same time, two other bands in other venues performed other live music so that passengers could dance to the tunes performed by these two musical groups. For those who wanted to have the opportunity to view the starts, Astronomer Dr. Norman Caisse was available from 10:30 PM to 12:00 Midnight.

This evening we dined at the Silk Road Japanese Specialty Restaurant with another couple that we first met on last years World Cruise. We greatly enjoy their company so it was so nice to dine with them. We enjoyed a wonderful dinner, with outstanding cuisine, service along with a very nice conversation.

After three plus days at sea, our ship is on schedule to reach Cochin, India tomorrow morning. This will be our first time in India and this is the first of two ports that we will visit in India. The majority of the passengers we have spoken with have not been to India before. There are a variety of tours being offered in Cochin. In addition, there are several overland tours being offered that begin in this port of call. There is a two night journey to the Taj Mahal, another two night journey to the Ajanta & Ellora Caves, a two night journey to Udaipur, a two day journey to Jaipur, and a six night journey to Delhi, Agra, Jaipur & Udaipur. These overland programs are becoming more and more popular to give those on the cruise the ability to see places that are further inland and not reachable by a cruise ship.

Keith & Anne Marie

En Route To Cochin, India

NOTE: We added a picture to the Blog from last evenings Crystal Society Reception If you scroll to the bottom of today’s entry you will see it at the top of yesterdays Blog.

Last evening the seas continued to be quite calm so we enjoyed an excellent nights sleep. At last nights reception, Captain Glenn mentioned that the seas are expected to continue to be very calm as we head to India. He said that this is not always the case, so we are quite fortunate to have good weather and calm seas. We also earned last evening that we have approximately 830 guests on board the ship; including around 730 who are repeat Crystal Cruisers. There are now 355,000 people who are part of Crystal Society meaning that they have taken one or more previous cruises with Crystal.

Before we went to bed last night we set the clocks back one hour. We woke up the same time we do each day so we enjoyed an additional hour of sleep. ☺

We started our day as we do each day with a daily workout in the Fitness Center. Keith enjoyed a wonderful workout. He spoke with one man for quite a while who is on this segment of the cruise and then spoke with Mary after she arrived. Anne Marie enjoyed her workout and then afterwards spoke with some fellow passengers including Mary. Some of the other regulars such as John were also working out and because of the time zone change the Fitness Center was a little busier than normal but there were still plenty of machines available for use.

We listened to Captain Glenn’s morning talk. Captain Glenn’s thought of the day was “You teach best what you need most to learn.”

After enjoying a wonderful breakfast in our room, we started the morning activities by attending Rap with the Rabbi. This session is usually held every other sea day. As usual, we enjoyed the session. The Rabbi does a wonderful job leading these sessions and selecting topics that allow for a great discussion and lots of participation by those in attendance. We had a very large turnout for today’s discussion.

After this session Keith played Table Tennis. He played mainly with the same three people from yesterday, including one of the entertainers on for this segment of the world cruise. Since the seas are relatively calm and there has been minimal wind, it’s been a nice couple of days playing table tennis and it is a very nice group of people playing.

While Keith was playing table tennis, Anne Marie attended a lecture given by Destination Lecturer Jay Wolff. The topic of Dr. Wolff’s presentation was “The Rise of Raj – British India.” The presentation how a private British stock company built itself into a de-factor country, with its own army and navy and how it controlled India for 250 years. He talked about how the English brought the railroad, the telegraph and the blessings of Western Civilization over to this area of the world while at the same time draining India of its wealth.

We both attended the next presentation, which was given by author, professor and television personality Dr. Harm de Blij. The topic of his presentation was “The Power of Place: Why the World is Not Flat.”

His discussion focused on two areas the physical geography of the world along with the political aspects of the world. In terms of the physical, he talked about how the land mass moves each year and based on historical information how one can predict the future in terms of where oil supplies will be located, and other major natural resources.

As for the political aspect, he touched on many interesting issues. One of the places he talked about was Myanmar. It was his view that even if the current government that is presently in control is overthrown by the Buddhist Monks that he believed that life for the people would not be any different than it is today because of the extremist views of these monks. He has a very good point. We can all point to changes in the world where religious extremists took control of a particular country and see that it didn’t bring about the change that some would have predicted. This was also another point of his, which is that in many parts of the world that we are seeing more extremes in religion. Another major point of his is that he didn’t believe that the embargo that has been put into place is bringing about positive change. It was his contention that is hurting the majority of the people rather than helping them and again his point is that if all of this results in the Monks taking over at some point it could turn out to be even worse for the people. This might be one of those times to be careful for what you wish for.

He also touched on other key geo-political issues around the world from India, to Tibet, to even the United States. He is a fascinating speaker and regardless whether one agrees or disagrees with each of his point, he is wonderful to listen to, makes a lot of sense, and makes one see things from a different perspective, which is always helpful. There is also so much to this world that we truly don’t understand. When we say we, we are not just talking about ourselves, but all of us. Sometimes, we make generalities, which are wrong. Other times, we come to conclusions based on one source, which can also be wrong.

Through this World Cruise adventure we continue expand our knowledge from the excellent guest speakers/lecturers that Crystal Cruises brings on board the ship to our ability to see things first hand ourselves, rather than through others. There is so much more for us to learn about this world we live in and it also reminds us to be open to other points of views and to be flexible in our thinking. Because in the end, we all have much to learn about and how we see the world from where we live is not necessarily correct and that there are two sides to every story and that we all are not 100% correct all of the time. Sometimes we as individuals, groups, countries, regions of the world are correct on items, and sometimes we are wrong because we do not see the entire picture or the picture we see is not correct because we are only seeing it from one point of view; our own. We know that when we go home that there are some items that we want to further research because of some items we have learned from the lecturers during our journey or because of particular situations that we have observed during our journey in which more information is needed.

We have mentioned that Crystal now has a new art program on board the ship. Throughout the day, a variety of art was displayed in the Crystal Plaza, which is right adjacent to the reception desk. There is an Art Director on board the ship for the entire World Cruise from Winsome and Heyword and she was available to discuss these items for anyone who was interested in the art along with those who might be interested in purchasing the art. These are one of a kind items.

At the same time, there is a new shop on the ship, which was opened during the first week of the World Cruise. It features some items from voyage to voyage but the majority of the items are part of a trunk show. As part of the trunk show, a jeweler will come on bard the ship and the items featured will be those of the jeweler. The current jeweler on board lives in Mumbai so her jewelry was all designed and made in India. This shop seems to have gone over very well with many guests and is something quite unique to be offered on a cruise ship. The prices will vary from cruise to cruise depending on what type of jeweler is on board and what type of jewelry they feature.

After our morning activities, we enjoyed a wonderful lunch in the Main Dining Room. The same Senior Waiter and Waiter who serve us in the evening served us. They are a pleasure to talk with.
This afternoon they are helping to make a variety of food items that are representative of their home South American country and these items will be reheated later this evening as part of a dinner crew dinner. They have been looking forward to this for quite a while and it was wonderful hearing about all of the items that are being prepared for this event.

During the afternoon, we took care of some errands around the ship along with some items that we needed to get caught up on.

This evening we had dinner in the Main Dining Room. We had pre-ordered our entrée rather than ordering one of the menu items. We enjoyed Black Bass as our entrée. It was wonderfully prepared for us.

There is a good deal of entertainment for the guests this evening.

A vocalist was on board who performed two shows. One was at 7:00 PM for those who eat at the late seating for dinner and the other was a 8:30 PM for those in the main (early) dining seating. During this years World Cruise, Crystal has brought on more entertainers than ever before to supplement their own in-house entertainment. Penny Mathisen performed tonight’s show. She has performed extensively in the theatre. Her theatre credits include performing as Christine in The Phantom of the Opera and as Cosette in Les Miserables in the West End. She has many other acting credits and has also appeared in film and on television

At the same time there was a special themed fair for everyone sailing on this segment of the cruise. It was called a Country Fair and was set up around the indoor pool area of the ship. This area of the ship was set up like a fairground and for this evening was called the Crystal Fairgrounds offering a variety of games for our fellow guest to play which they called giggle-inducing games while offer a variety of food which they referred to as tummy-tempting vittles. Set up like a carnival, tickets were given out for those who won a particular game, which could be turned in for prizes. There was even a pie-eating contest. Last year, there was a medieval like fair featuring a variety of games and food. Like last year, this was a huge success. Most of us are children at heart and it’s nice to see our fellow guests having fun playing games that they may have played when they were young.

We ended up winning two stuffed animals (Anne Marie is pictured with our new additions) along with two straw hats (not pictured). We know. More items to pack. ☺

Keith & Anne Marie

En Route To Cochin, India

Today is the first of three full sea days as we cruise towards Cochin, India, our first port of call in India.

We enjoyed a good night sleep last evening and woke up at our usual time this morning. When Keith arrived at the Fitness Center there was a gentleman who is on this segment of the cruise already working out on one of the Elliptical Machines who said “I got up here before the runner”. He was amazed that he arrived before Keith did. He is a nice man and had spoken with Keith just yesterday to ask how long we worked out each day and how it looks as if Keith is running while working out on the Elliptical Machine.

With the overnight tours all back on the ship all of our regulars were back at the Fitness Center this morning. All those who we have spoken with about the overnight shore excursion programs had nothing but positive feedback about their respective experiences on those overland programs.

Even with all of the “regulars” back, the center was not very busy and we both enjoyed a very nice workout.

After our workout we enjoyed a wonderful breakfast in our room. We also filled out various port of entry forms in preparation for our arrival in India. There are some countries that we visit where each passenger must fill out some forms for our entry into a particular country and India is one of them. India was also one of three countries where we needed to obtain visas before we began our trip. The other was Vietnam along with Australia but for Australia we were able to obtain an electronic form via the internet rather than requiring a traditional visa. There are a few other countries where Crystal will obtain visas

During this mornings talk from the bridge, Captain Glenn shared his thought of the day which was “If you want to feel rich, always count the things that you have that money can’t buy.”

Yesterday, a fellow passenger asked Keith if he would like to play table tennis at 9:00 AM today so Keith went to play table tennis. The ship has two table tennis tables. Keith played with two fellow passengers and one of the entertainers (piano player) on board this segment of the cruise. They ended up playing for two hours.

Anne Marie attended the 10:00 AM lecture given by Dr. Jay Wolff. His lecture was titled “Riding the Monsoon – Sheba to Mailbar.” She thought the lecture was excellent.

We both attended the lecture given by Author and Book Reviewer Robert Adams who gave a presentation on the book Asylum, by Patrick McGrath. We first heard Robert Adams speak on last years World Cruise and he speaks with great passion about those books and authors that he talks about. He is a wonderful lecturer and we are very fortunate to have him on board for this segment of the World Cruise.

There were so many other activities scheduled throughout the day and afternoon hours. This included various computer courses, music classes, dancing classes, language classes and a a nice set of fitness related classes. There was also team trivia, a rehearsal for passengers who sing in the World Cruise Choir, a Golf Clinic, Complimentary Gaming Lessons taught by the Casino Staff, a couple of Movies (Kite Runner in the afternoon and The Golden Compass in the evening), various levels of Bridge Classes and then Bridge games, a Scrapbook Class, a Memoir Writing class, and several other activities too numerous to list.

This evening before dinner was a reception for those members of the Crystal Society. Once you sail with Crystal one time you automatically become a member of Crystal Society. There are two receptions; one for those who have early seating dining (main seating) and those who dine late. For those in the early seating, the reception begins at 5:15 PM and lasts until 6:00 PM and for those who dine late, the later reception begins at 7:45 PM and ends at 8:30 PM. During the reception, a variety of beverages are offered including wine, champagne, and mixed drinks along with beverages served without alcohol. Waiters also come around serving a variety of Hors D’oeuvres. There is also live music and dancing. There are eight Ambassador Hosts on board the ship who are in attendance and primarily dance with those women traveling solo. During the Crystal Society receptions, a variety of Crystal Society members are recognized for having reached a significant milestone in the total number of cruises taken with Crystal. For those with significant milestones, there names are not only mentioned but they are called up and presented with flowers and are photographed with some of the officers including the Captain. One of the World Cruisers on our sailing was recently recognized for having taken their 200th cruise with Crystal and is the only member of the Crystal Society who has taken 200 or more Crystal Cruises.

Tonight is the second formal night on this segment of the cruise.


Today, we are posting before dinner as we have an engagement this evening.

Before we go to sleep this evening, we will set our clocks back one hour as we sail into another time zone. It is so much easier to set the clocks back and we are so very fortunate that on this entire cruise that we set the clock back most times and very few times have we needed to set it forward.

Keith & Anne Marie

En Route To Cochin, India

As we reflect on what we have seen during our stay in Myanmar it is very eye opening. This is a reminder to us how many people around the world do not have the same opportunities as many of us do. What we observed during our short stay in this country is not unlike other areas of the world that we have traveled to such as our visit to parts of Africa on last years World Cruise. The reality is that for many of these people there is very little hope for them to better their lives and for the vast majority of the population they will continue to live the way they currently do. . Hopefully, overtime, changes will come and at some point the oppressive government will be replaced by a new government that is supportive of all its people.

When we first booked the World Cruise, clearly Myanmar was one country that we would have been happy if it was not on our itinerary as a port of call. We felt this way before the issues surfaced last fall placing this country front and center on the world news. We are reminded of something that we read in one of the travel books last year that said that there are very interesting and fascinating places to visit in this country, but that they could not recommend visiting Myanmar given their oppressive governmental regime. We also felt the same way. Based on our short experience in this country it is clear to us that the majority of the people are deprived, with many living in what we would define as poverty. What we saw first hand reinforced our views.

For many, we came to realize that their religion is likely all they have to live for which we suspect is why religion plays such a strong role for many of these people. It is so sad to see and think of all of the wealth in the pagodas and in the palaces while so many of the people of this country live in poverty.

Many of the basic items that we take for granted such as a comfortable home, inside plumbing, a roof over our heads, sufficient food, etc. these people will never experience. As we have said before, this is a reminder for us to truly appreciate all that we have and to focus on the glass being half full rather than half empty. Further, that there is so much that needs to occur in many countries around the world to raise the standard of living for large populations of people. When one visits a country such as Myanmar it is hard to believe that here we are in the 21st century, yet the majority of people in this country are living in what we would define as the past.

With all of this said, we are glad that we had the opportunity to visit Myanmar. While we have opportunities to read about different places and to see them through other mediums such as television and through the internet, many times seeing something first hand and through our own eyes provides a much clearer picture for each of us. Clearly, there are other countries in the world that we have visited over the years that we do not agree with the ideology of the government. However, sometimes our presence as a visitor can ultimately bring about change, although the changes might occur in baby steps. Also, seeing things first hand is also very important so that we can make our own judgments.

We began today as we usually do. We woke early and started our day in the Fitness Center. Keith spoke with a gentleman in the Fitness Center during our workout about what we had seen in Myanmar. He is traveling with his wife and twelve year old son. He plans to use the experience in this country to emphasize to his son that many people around the world are not as blessed with what so many of us take for granted in various Western cultures. We agree that this is a very valuable experience not only for a young teenager but for all of us for the reasons we’ve already mentioned.

After our workout we enjoyed a very nice breakfast in our room.

We attended a sail-away party that began shortly before our scheduled departure. Complimentary Bloody Marys were served (we didn’t have any) along with live music.

Our actual departure from Myanmar was delayed, as some of the overland tours (about sixty guests) returned later than expected. One of the benefits of booking tours through Crystal is that if your tour returns late the ship will wait for you.

At Noon we had the pleasure of having lunch in the Main Dining Room with the Cruise Director of the ship, Rick Spath. This is the second time we have had lunch with Rick since our adventure began. We have also spoken with Rick numerous times since first boarding the ship in Los Angles and have enjoyed all of our talks with him. In our view, he is very visible to the passengers, very kind, and a pleasure to talk with.

In the afternoon we took a nice long walk on the Promenade Deck. It is always enjoyable to walk on this deck as it is a full wrap-around deck and is great for both walking and jogging. During our walk we could see several boats from both sides of the ship.

Before dinner this evening there was a special event for those on the entire World Cruise. The name of the event was called Prohibition Prohibited and as such we were told that we were invited to a hideaway in Charleston one night before Prohibition is repealed. The event was wonderful and we truly appreciate all of the time and effort that goes into these events.

This theme for this evenings diner was Neptune Dinner and there were lots of wonderful food items on the menu.

The main fares items (dinner entrees) included Broiled Fillet of Chilean Sea Bass, Seafood and Vegetable Curry with Papaya Fan, Surt and Turf (fillet mignon accompanied by a broiled half lobster tail), Whole Roasted Koshery Chicken. Also available was Broiled Salmon as well as Grilled Sirloin Steak.

At the same time there were four appetizers to choose from; Tempura Fried Soft Shell Crab, Thai Marinated Salmon with Papaya Salad, Exotic Mushroom Salad, Chilled Strawberry Cocktail.

There were five soups/salads; Gingered Cream of Red Onion Soup, Essence of Beef (with “Kobe” beef), Chilled Peach Soup, Bed of Red Leaf Lettuce, Heart of Boston Lettuce.

There was also a Pasta Special and also a Salad Entrée.

Oh and the Dessert. There were two featured desserts a Bunny Dessert of Carrot and Zucchini Cake with Vanilla Tapioca and Orange Ice Cream and a Cherry Blossom with Black Forest Cake, Cherry Soup and Frosted Maraschino Mousse. Also, there were around ten other desserts to choose from.

And, if you wanted cheese instead this evenings menu featured Camembert, Stilton, Le Brin, Tilsiten and Pecorino Romano Cheeses from the Cheese Trolley.

At the same time there are all sorts of other selections to choose from including vegetarian, kosher, lighter side, salt free, sugar free and a multitude of other items that can be prepared for you.

We each enjoyed an entree of Broiled Fillet of Chilean Sea Bass, which made our Senior Waiter and Waiter both of whom are from Chile happy. ☺

We now look forward to three full days at sea as we sail to our next port of call in Cochin, India.

Keith & Anne Marie

Yangon Myanmar

We wanted to mention what an enjoyable dinner that we had last evening. As we had mentioned, the theme was a Royal Thai dinner and we thought that the food was excellent. Keith tried both the Mahi Mahi and the Fillet of Grouper as our Senior Waiter and Headwaiter recommended both of these. We enjoyed a laugh with them as the Senior Waiter recommended the Mahi Mahi and the Headwaiter recommended the Grouper so Keith didn’t want to disappoint either of them and that is why he tried both. After the meal was served they both came back to the table to ask Keith which one he preferred. He gave the politically correct answer which was to say he liked them both which he did although he did have a preference. Yes, the Grouper. ☺ Anne Marie had the Mahi Mahi and enjoyed the meal along with the way the side items were prepared Thailand style.

The dining room was very quiet during the main seating since some guests were on overland tours, other guests were on tours that we not getting back until later in the evening and still other guests were eating in one of the specialty restaurants or at Tastes which offers a casual dining venue. We would say that only about 100 guests were in the dining room whereas during this segment of the cruise the main seating has been very popular and there have been a few nights where close to 450-500 guests were dining.

In addition to it being very quiet, the staff had much more time to converse with us. As we have mentioned, given the length of the cruise one really gets to know the staff during the course of this cruise. You learn not only about the culture of the countries they live in but also about their families and their dreams. We have sailed with our Headwaiter several times starting in 2005 and we know him quite well.

We also spoke with another Senior Waiter who serves the tables near our table who we know from not only sailing this year but also last year. He is from a town North of Mumbai and since we will end this segment of the World Cruise in Mumbai he is kind enough to be preparing a list of places for us to see. He is a very kind person and we have enjoyed talking with him from time-to-time.

Our Senior Waiter and Waiter are both from Chile so we have also enjoyed wonderful conversations with them. Since we have visited Chile a couple of times we can converse with them about different areas of their home country.

Regardless of where each person comes from, we are all very fascinated with each of the places that we have visited during this World Cruise Adventure. We sometimes all forget about how truly diverse this world is and that there are so many differences from one culture to the next culture. At the same time, the thing that is most common as we visit places around the world is the pride that so many people take for their respective country. As we visit so many places we continue to be reminded about how fortunate we are that we were raised in an area of the world with so much opportunity as this is not the case in many areas around the world. We try to remind ourselves of this each and every day.

We also had time to have a nice conversation with the Maitre D’ of the main dining room as we were departing the dining room last evening.

Before we went back to our room, we spoke with some of our fellow passengers who returned last evening from the tours to get some additional information. Unlike when we visited religious sites in other places during this journey and in prior years trip, when visiting religious sites in this country in addition to removing ones shoes we are also required to remove our socks. Needless to say we heard about passengers coming back to the bus with feet that were black from all of the dirt. This is because you are encouraged to leave your shoes on the bus and there is some distance to walk between the bus and the religious sites. They were given wet wipes to clean their feet when they returned to the bus.

We awoke earlier than normal this morning as we had an early tour. Some of our fellow passengers who are beginning overland tours this morning had to wake up very early as there were two different overland tours where passengers had to be ready at 5:00 AM. Consequently, the Lido Café was available for an early risers continental breakfast starting at 4:15 AM for those on the very early tours. The good news is that our tour did not begin until 8:15 AM. ☺

We enjoyed a nice workout. A couple of the regulars who normally workout when we do were not there as Mary has been on an overland tour the past few days while John began his overland tour this morning. After another great workout, we enjoyed breakfast in our room and then got ready for our tour.

Our tour was excellent and our tour guide was extremely knowledgeable, spoke English well, was very candid on some of the issues related to internal strife inside this country and also had a nice sense of humor.

There is no question that the majority of people who live in Myanmar have a challenging life. Things we take for granted they will never experience. It is a poor country. It used to be the number one exporter of rice worldwide until various embargos were implemented. Today, rice is still a major export but not as large as it used to be. Other drivers of the economy include the export of Teakwood, and various precious items such as Rubies, Safire, and Jade.

On our way into Yangon from the pier we traveled with two other buses in a little convoy and we were escorted by one car that led the way. We went through a few intersections where police on motorcycles shopped traffic so we could proceed. We passed by a number of very small villages. We saw Monks walking on the road in bare feet. All of the other locals wore mainly sandals or thongs and no socks. Many of the areas that we passed were clearly third world. We did pass many rice patties. This country grows sixty different varieties of rice.

Around 5.5 Million people live in an around Yangon and the population of Myanmar is approximately 50 million residents. The average income is the equivalent of 150 USA dollars per month. Professionals such as engineers and doctors make around ten times this figure.

The tour that we took was called The Golden Glory of Yangon and provided a very nice opportunity to see a variety of sites and to get a nice overview of Myanmar and Yangon. Our tour included a visit to the world-renowned Shwedagon Pagoda. As we mentioned yesterday, this Pagoda is over 2,500 years old. The site soars at a height of 326 feet and gold plate adorn this structure, which also has 6,500 diamonds, rubies and other precious stones atop this site. The site is amazing and can be seen from a distance of several miles away.

The tour also included a visit to Chauk Htat Gyi which has one of the largest reclining Buddha images in the world.

We also saw the Maha Bandoola Park and the Sule Pagoda along with the Bogyoke Market also known as Scott Market, which featured the sale of food, clothes, handcrafts and gems. We also had the opportunity to see a replica of Karawek Royal Barge, which is moored in Royal Lake.

Traffic in Yangon was not as bad as we expected. There are some motorbikes but primarily people either walk, take shuttle like buses or drive n cars. Clearly, the majority of the people walk or take these shuttle like buses and are packed in them like sardines. The locals wore very basic clothes and it is very clearly that there is a great deal of poverty in this country. We saw a good deal of begging when we got off the bus at the market. However, as we walked around the market it was far less pushy than other areas of the world. The market contained various stores but also people coming up trying to sell items. When we were approached we would say no thank you in a polite manner and the people would leave us alone. The people we spoke with at the sites we visited were very polite. They are indeed nice people but unfortunately the government is not. Our tour guide mentioned that three times the currency he had saved became worthless and about the various rights that the people have lost. He said that the military has a big presence but in most cases not highly visible. However, at the Shwedagon Pagoada we saw several military personnel who had their fingers on the trigger of machine guns.

Seeing what we did today reminds us once again of how fortunate we are to live where we do and to have had so many opportunities afforded to us. Yes, we worked very hard but we were fortunate to be rewarded for our hard work. In many parts of the world, there is not much light at the end of the tunnel for hard work. This appeared to be such as country.

After returning to the ship we took some time to reflect on what we had observed and heard during our tour. Afterwards, we enjoyed a very nice lunch back on the ship.

This afternoon and this evening other tours are being offered. This includes a tour of the Shwedagon Pagoda at night along with a dinner, cultural show and a visit to the Shwedagon Pagoda during the evening. In total, nine different tours were offered throughout the day.

This evening we enjoyed a wonderful dinner in the Main Dining Room.

Our ship will remain docked in Myanmar for a second evening and we are scheduled to depart this location at 11:00 AM tomorrow morning. We will then have another three full days at sea as we sail to Cochin, India, which is our first of two stops in India.


Keith & Anne Marie

Yangon Myanmar

The two pictures are of each of us and our wonderful Stewardess Rose. We took these pictures after we came back to the room this evening after dinner.

We wanted to mention how much we enjoyed last evenings entertainment. On this years World Cruise Crystal has brought on board significantly more outside entertainers than normal in order to provide more diverse entertainment for those who are on for one, multiple or all of the segments but particularly for those on multiple segments or the full World Cruise. Some of the regular production shows have been moved to the afternoon time frame so those who have seen them many times can also see other entertainers at night. But it’s been a good balance as some production shows are still shown in the evening. By bringing on so many first time entertainers, Crystal also is using this as an opportunity to test out new acts and those that are well received will be invited back for future cruises. It’s a great approach to continuing to change what is offered on the ship. To give you a feel for the number of entertainers that are brought on the ship, when Crystal brought on the entertainer that we saw last evening normally on a like cruise for another cruise line he would have performed at least three times. However, the initial plan was for him to perform once for the entire time since there were also many other acts on board. He would still remain on the cruise ship for the entire time. Given the audience reaction to his show last evening, (there were two standing ovations) at the end of the show the Cruise Director, Rick Spath, announced that the Comedian, Kenny, would be added to the program for at least another show. This brought on additional cheers and applause from the audience.

Keith met the comedian Kenny the other day and has seen him for a few days before last evening. Keith found him quite funny before we even went to the show. His act is Improv Comedy and boy was he quick on his feet. In addition to being quite funny he also sang about four or five songs and he was also quite a good singer. He really works the audience well. Over the years, we have found that some comedians and be a bit over the top and clearly it can be hard to be a comedian in this day and age as with almost any type of joke someone can be offended but we had to say that we found Kenny to be extremely funny, as we had tears rolling down our face, without being offensive. Yes, there was one couple who left during the performance but that will happen in any show. We really enjoyed him. In the end, entertainers who perform on Crystal as is the case with others such as the lecturers, depend on passenger feedback. At the end of each cruise there is a passenger questionnaire that requests feedback from the passengers on a number of areas from entertainment, to lectures, to shore excursions, to the room, to the food and so forth. If the lecturers or entertainers do not attain a certain positive threshold then they will not be asked back the following year. We think this is an outstanding approach as in the end the feedback of the passengers determines who will be invited back and who won’t be coming back to perform.

This morning we woke early as we continued to sail to Yangon, Myanmar. We worked out in the Fitness Room as we always do with Keith arriving ot the Fitness Center first and working about for over 90 minutes on the Elliptical machine and Anne Marie arriving a little while later and working out on the Treadmill. Another regular, John, was working out and a few other of our fellow passengers were working out.

This was our first visit to Myanmar. The ship has two overnight in this port of call, which is the only stop with two overnights. There are two factors for this. There are a number of overland tours that began the other day and will conclude by passengers getting back on the ship before we leave Myanmar. At the same time there are a few overland packages that begin and end while we are still in Myanmar. Also, there are a few overland tours that begin before we leave Myanmar and end by passengers rejoining the ship in a few days from now when we are in India. Also, the tides play a role as to what time we can leave and/or arrive to a particular port of call.

As we were working out this morning we saw a variety of little fishing boats clustered together. We saw several clusters of these boats along the way. After our workout, we enjoyed a wonderful breakfast in our room.

A couple of related notes about Myanmar. The ship has a curfew for its crew that they have to be back on board the ship by 10:00 PM each evening during our stay here. We suspect this is for the safety of the crew. Our experience is that when crew members go ashore when the ship as an overnight in any port that they stay together in small groups so they can look out for one another.

We will be unable to use Credit Cards in Myanmar as the United States has an embargo with Myanmar.

Myanmar used to be known as Burma. Many years ago very few people outside Burma could visit this area. While this country is now more widely open to visitors it still has tight rules and travelers are usually limited to the number of days they can remain in this country. This areas is quite unique from most countries given its ornate sites from the Pagodas to the Buddha’s.

Myanmar reaches stretches west near Bhutan, Bangladesh and touches on the Bay of Bengal to the Andaman Sea in the South and reaches to Thailand, Lao and China. As we mentioned the other day, China is constructing a pipeline through Myanmar for strategic reasons. When this new pipeline is on line in another eight years or so it will provide China with a key way to obtain its fuel and also provide Myanmar with important revenues.

The size of Myanmar is just about the size of the state of Texas. The dominant group in this country representing about 75% of the population is the Burmans. Eighty-five percent of the Burmans are Buddhists. Myanmar is composed of over 125 ethnic, racial and tribal groups.

Myanmar is a very conservative country and, as such, ladies have been asked to cover their knees and shoulders and gentlemen visiting from the ship have been asked to wear long pants when visiting religious sites. Whereas in the more conservative sites we have been asked to remove our shoes, in Myanmar when visiting similar sites we also have been asked to remove our socks.

Our ship docked at the Myanmar International Terminal and the distance from the ship to the city center of Yangon is about twenty-three miles.

Major sites to see include the Shwedagon Pagoda which is visible from distances of miles and is over 2,500 years old. There is the Chauk Htat Gyi Pagoad which is a reclining Buddha. It was first constructed in 1907, suffered major damage due to the climate and was completely destroyed in 1957 and was reconstructed in 1966. There is the Royal Kaudawgyi Lake which is a very nice place to relax and the Bogyoke Aung San Market which is the most famous places for shopping in Yangon for items such as arts and handicrafts at reasonable prices. Another famous place to visit is the Strand Hotel. The Sarkies brothers of Raffles fame originally constructed it in 1896.

We have a tour planned for tomorrow to see major sights in and around Yangon so we will share more thoughts on what we have seen tomorrow.

Later in the morning we walked around the Promenade Deck. There were several guests walking around as well. Even a couple of them were out jogging. Initially, the temperature was quite comfortable but after awhile it became humid. There was a mix of sun and clouds and we could see out to the distance various rain showers. Keith also played table tennis with a couple of World Cruisers and also the entertainer for this evening, Grammy Nominated Jazz Pianist, Judy Carmichael who has a show this evening. We played doubles table tennis for about 45 minutes until one guest needed to leave for Bridge Lessons and around that time Anne Marie came by and played one final game with us.

We enjoyed a very nice salad entrée in the Main Dining Room for lunch.

Before we were cleared in port we listened to a lecture given yesterday by Health Specialist Dr. Jon McMichan whose topic was called “The healthy Traveller”. It was a discussion of common ailments associated with travel, how to avoid them and what to do when they strike. Many of them we know but other were good to listen to. He was a fabulous speaker. One of the things he highlighted was the importance of washing your hands. We know this but he reinforced the need that when you are traveling even when you wash your hands to follow-up with using the small alcohol cleanser that many of us carry around or using the one on the ship outside many of the dining rooms. He really stressed the need to not touch you mouth, nose, face or eyes.

He also talked about various bugs including noro-virus. A few interesting points. He mentioned that the reason we hear about it on cruise ships is because if a certain level is reached in an outbreak then it must be reported but he said its more likely to occur in a nursing home and that you have a higher chance of getting them on an airplane or in a shopping mall.

But, let’s get back to the Noro Virus. Whereas a regular virus may last on a door handle for a few hours, Noro Virus lasts on a door handle up to 48 hours. That is amazing and reinforces the need to wash your hands constantly.

We also wanted to highlight another area, which really stresses the importance to others by covering your nose if you sneeze or covering your mouth if you cough. If you sneeze, the air coming out of your nose travels at eighty miles per hour and up to 30 feet. That is incredible. This really explains why it is easy to get sick when you travel and are in confined areas. How often do we see people who do not cover their nose when they sneeze, cover their mouth when they cough, touch their face after they shake someone’s hand, etc.

He also noted that in third world countries the importance of watching what you eat. Yes, some of this we know but some additional thoughts. He said to drink bottled water with gas as that is the only way you know if someone has not tampered with the bottle.

He said that when he was in Mubai, he was going to buy a coke in a bottle and can tell that these bottles were tampered with since they were all at different levels.

Brush your teeth with bottled water.

When you eat out no salads and only food items such as vegetables and other items that have been cooked.

Only eat fruit that you peel yourself.

Only eat nuts that you take the shell off yourself.

No ice in drinks.

No ice cream.

There are other items but these are some of the key items.

This afternoon we walked off the ship but there were no places close to the ship to visit. We look forward to seeing them tomorrow.

Keith spoke with the comedian for about an hour and one half this afternoon whose show we enjoyed last evening.

This evenings menu in the Main Dining Room Featured a Royal Thai Dinner. We enjoyed a wonderful dinner.

Some of the items included;

Four appetizers: Golden Fried Shrimp Waapped in Vemicelli Served with Sweet Thai Chili Sauce; Spicy Minced Pork Served in a Lettuce Cup, Fresh Vegetables Glass Noodles and Thai Herbs Wrapped in Rice Paper with Peanut Sauce and Dragon Fruit and Rambutan Martini with Banana.

Five soups and salads: Green Curry Clam Chowder with Baby Eggplant, Game Bird Consommé with Lemongrass, Quail Breast, Rice, Thai Basil and Mint; Chille Coconut & Tapioca Soup with Mountain Apple; Toss Field Lettuce with Pomelo, Red Onions and Pear Tomoatoes in Lme-Soy Vinaigrette and Orchid Caesar Salad with Thai Herbs and Spices.

One pasta special: Thai Fried Noodles with Sliced Chicken, Shrimp, Scallions, Bean Sprouts, Lemon, Chopped Peanuts and Crisp Fried Onion

One salad entrée: Crisp Soft Shell Salad

Four main fares: Broiled Fillet of Grouper with sweet and sour vegetables, bok choy and crabmeat fritters; Sautéed Scallops on a bed of spinach with Red Thai Curry Sauce, Mushrooms, Baby Carrots, Snap Peas and Thai Pink Coconut Rice; Grilled Black Angus Sirloin Steak with crisp vegetable spring roll, grilled corn on the cob, spicy mango and cucumber salad and kaffir lime shallot sauce.

Pink Roasted Lamb Loin with macadamia nut crust served with wok-fried phuket vegetables with cilantro-mint vinaigrette and new potatoes.

Additional traditional fares were available such as Roasted Chicken and Broilded mahi Mahi Fillet. There were several side orders of Thai Rice and Vegetables.

There were lots of desserts to choose from and a couple that were just for this evening which was “The Thai Experience: which was Jasmine Rice Napoleon, Papaya Jelly and Rambutan Sherbet and another one called a Banana Banana Banana which was Banana Panna Cotta, Banana Cannoli, Blueberry, Banana Sauce and Banana Nut Ice Cream.

There were other items such as five featured cheese from the Cheese Trolley which included Delice Calvados, Entremont, Caprice des Dieux, Camembert, and Faume d’Ambert.

Each evening the featured cheeses change. For example last evening thee featured cheeses were Gouda, La Tur, Brie, Livarot, Pave d’Affinois, and Bresse Bleu.


Tomorrow, we look forward to going on a tour near and around Yangon.

Keith & Anne Marie