23.02.2016 Bangkok and Pattaya, Thailand

Landed in Bangkok early in the morning and drove down to Laem Chabang port where Aidabella was tied up. H got me from the passenger terminal and I had a quick guided tour of the ship and a nap. As Aidabella was sailing that evening I had to get off again and I drove south to Pattaya to get a hotel. The hotel was OK but much of Pattaya is a sleazy mess and holds no attractions for a man of my discerning tastes. The beach next to the hotel had large immobile creatures, possibly Russian matriarchs, stranded on it and looking like they were waiting to be dragged off to a landfill site.

24.02-01.03.2016 Bangkok, Thailand

So off to explore the fleshpots of Bangkok. The ladyboys are a bit worrisome but the food is good and there are some amazing temples and palaces up the Chao Praya river. As per Plan C for the India visa, I visited the Indian Embassy in Bangkok. They declined to give me a tourist visa on the grounds that I was not officially resident in Thailand. At this point I decided to implement Plan D which is that India will have to get by without my tourist dollar and I will just stay on the ship in the Indian ports.

02.03.2016 Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Flight from Bangkok to Ho Chi Minh City. The Vietnamese won’t rent you a car if you don’t have a local driving license so you have to get a driver as well. To be fair, it’s probably safer this way as the roads are a nightmare. Most traffic is motorcycles and there are millions of them. Any one stretch of road will have several thousand motorbikes in view and all tooting and jostling for space. It was dark when I got to my apartment in District 1, Saigon. I went for walk through the noisy streets in search of food then back to the apartment, listened to roaring motorbikes and barking dogs and waited for my driver to show up again the next morning.

03.03.2016 Phu My, Vung Tau, Ho Chi Minh City

Drove to Phu My port on the Saigon river to meet up with H at Aidabella. We went for a drive down to Vung Tau at the mouth of the Saigon river and had a sweaty climb up to a giant Jesus statue a la Rio de J. and then an excellent lunch at a seaside restaurant. Dropped H off in Phu My and I went back to HCMC. Had an explore of the city by night and a drink on the roof terrace of the Rex Hotel. The Rex Hotel was an officer hangout during the “War of American Aggression”. HCMC seems fairly capitalist to me and it makes you wonder what that war was really all about and who actually won in the end.

04.03.2016 HCMC, Vietnam to Bangkok and Pattaya, Thailand

Checked out the Reunification Palace, the War Remnants Museum and the Jade Emperor Pagoda then had some noodles in a market with some Americans who had been working in South Korea and then back to the airport and a flight back to Bangkok and staying at the same hotel in Pattaya.

05.03.2016 Pattaya, Thailand

Bought some cheap folding bikes in a department store.

06.03.2016 Bangkok, Thailand

Picked up H for “One Night in Bangkok”. Stayed in the Peninsular Hotel in outrageous luxury with a great view over the city.

07.03.2016 Laem Chabang to Ko Samui, Thailand

In the morning we took a long-tail boat ride through the canals and then returned to Laem Chabang where I stepped aboard the Aidabella as a new long-term passenger.

09.03.2016 Ko Samui, Thailand

Sunburnt myself snorkelling off Ko Samui. It was a long boat ride and the water visibility was not the best.

12.03.2016 Singapore

A couple of days at sea then arrived at Singapore. In the morning I took the cable car to Sentosa Island to look at the huge S.E.A. Aquarium and was joined later by H. In the afternoon we took to a taxi to Raffles Hotel  and had the usual overpriced Singapore Slings. For leaving Singapore that evening H booked a spa suite on the ship with a private jacuzzi, sauna, waterbed and balcony overlooking the harbour. Cool stuff. Wine and sushi was included. For Germans standing on a balcony when leaving harbour and who are not wearing a uniform then wearing nothing is the next best thing. Few English travellers will appreciate that there are actually parts of the deck on German cruise ships that are set aside for sunning your important little places.  

13.03.2016 Port Klang, Malaysia

Arrived at Port Klang near Kuala Lumpur. I set out to explore Port Klang by bicycle. I’d not even left the cruise terminal grounds when the front wheel dropped through a stupidly designed grating over a storm drain throwing me over the handlebars and leaving a smear of blood and skin on to the road. I carried on for a while but realized that I had underestimated the distance and heat so I went back and got a taxi. On my last trip to Klang in 2008 I heard rumours of a Chinese fishing village called Pulau Ketam on some offshore mangrove islands so I set off to have a look. The village, or perhaps even small town, was about 30 minutes away by fast boat and was entirely on stilts over the mud. Restaurants sell local crab and shellfish. There were some Malay tourists about but nobody who looked European except me.

14.03.2016 Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia

Arrived in Georgetown, Penang. I set off to explore parts I had not seen before. Took a look at Fort Cornwallis which was not so special and walked on to our usual hangout, the Eastern & Oriental Hotel, to cool down in the A/C. Met up with H for lunch who arrived by cycle rickshaw. Germans are not as embarrassed as the British by these symbols of oppressive imperialism. After lunch I went shopping for some long pants but struggled to find the right length until some shop assistant told me they can make alterations in 10 minutes and they actually did! Why doesn’t M&S do that?

15-17.03.2016 Bay of Bengal

At sea heading for Colombo, Sri Lanka. Some, normally very white, fellow passengers have taken on a dark leathery brown colour. I hide in the shade.  When I can find some.