In my quest for fun and exciting places to visit that are a tad off the beaten path I travelled to Chiang Mai, Thailand. All I can say it is one of my favorite places I have ever visited. It offers everything a traveler could want from adventure and unique activities to sightseeing and shopping. Even though the town is the second largest in Thailand, it does not appear to be that big and is fairly easy to maneuver. The old town is surrounded by a wall and a moat. There are numerous places to stay from quality 5 star to the basic bed in a room. Doing my usual extensive homework I stayed in two different places (had to visit Chiang Mai twice), links and reviews below and to both places; Rimping Village Vanilla Palace Proximity of both hotels to the night market are a must if you are a walker. However, do not think that the night market is the end all be all of shopping, eating, and enjoying. The night market is actually surrounded by so many great things – you could spend a week just in the area outside the night market. For the adventurous at heart try; Tiger Kingdom I was reluctant at first but Tiger kingdom was an amazing once in a lifetime experience. I also spent the day at an Elephant preserve ( there are three main preserves so it is up to your budget) and you will have to pay to wash, feed , ride and spend the day hangin’ out with your own elephant. Siam River Adventures offers a fun day of rafting and a bit of sightseeing. One of the cultural activities I did was cover the five main temples (there are over 100 in the town) of Chiang Mai, with a good city map I took a tuk tuk to the farthest one and made my way on foot back to the city center. I could go on and on about this, great town but if you only have one stop in Thailand make it Chiang Mai.

My excursions for the 12N Baltic adventure cruise, ports; Copenhagen, Stockholm, Helsinki,St. Petersburg, Tallinn and Gothenburg. My objectives are simple: try and visit as many interesting places/things as possible; try to do some unusual activities; stay thrifty; use public transportation; and lastly avoid the overpriced ship excursions. Copenhagen: the ship docked at Langelinie pier. This is a very easy town to navigate on your own. I had arranged a “segway” excursion (http://segwaytourscph.com/). The segway office is located in an archway under the wall on Langelinie pier very close to where the ship moors. This excursion was simply MARVELOUS. There were four brave souls for this memorable experience, and the tour guide went overboard to please everyone. We got to see so much more of the city while saving our feet, and the segways are pure fun to ride and maneuver. We were provided helmets with a small speaker whereby the tour guide kept us posted as we segwayed through the city. We even got to see the changing of the guard and stopped for a drink in a park to boot. Once we finished our tour which lasted three hours, we went back on the ship for a very quick bite before heading out again. Still wanting to see our “Our Savior’s Church” but not enough time to do the “Blue” hull Netto boat canal tours, we took the city bus #26 directly at the pier and got off at Kongens Nytorv; then took the metro to Christianshaven Metro Station (using the same ticket which is good for unlimited travel for 1hr). The Church is very nice and has an amazing huge wooden organ that is a must see. The church visit cannot be complete unless you trek up the 400 + step spiral steeple (built in reverse clockwise direction) of the Baroque for an amazing (the highest observation point) city view. What more can be said – a terrific and fun day. Stockholm: docked at STADSGÅRDEN. A beautiful and lovely city – getting off the ship, we bought the combo HOHO boat ticket (make sure you ask for the combo ticket which includes Vasa museum entrance fee + unlimited boat ride) and rode the HOHO boat to Gamla Stan (The Old Town). We walked away from old town and rode up the Katarinahissen (elevated observation) which gives you the highest vantage over the city. This was followed by a leisurely walk through Gamla Stan winding up at the Royal Palace in time to watch a very unusual and crowd friendly changing of the guard (perhaps the best I have seen – it is done with horses and a band on horses). Grabbed a quick snack from a vendor at the pier area and got back on the HOHO boat at the palace station; got off at “Vasa”. Words cannot describe this realistic and beautiful display (very unusual and interesting museum built around the Vasa ship). I wanted more time to ride the HOHO but needed to be back on board the ship. Another fun-filled day with little cost – be aware that Stockholm is expensive. Helsinki: docked at Hernesaari pier (West Harbor). This pier is off the beaten path and not much around. We took the 14B bus (buy an all day ticket – price 6.80euro pp) to the Rock Church (stop: “kauppakorkeakoulut”). This contemporary modern, funky and unique Church is built in a Rock is a major tourist attraction. After seeing the Rock Church, we walked over and took the 3T tram (using the same ticket) to the Train Station (The train station is a medieval gothic building designed by a famous American-connected architect whose name I cannot recall). After walking around, we then took the 3T tram again, this time to Market Square. At Market Square there are numerous places to visit and there is an open air market where we grabbed some lunch (reindeer meatballs and moose sausage). Using the same ticket I caught the ferry to Suomenlinna Island. The boats from Helsinki Market Square usually leave every 20 min and the journey time to the island is 15 minutes. Following our island tour, we made our way back to the ship, this time taking Bus #16 at Market Square. We had limited port time but still got to see almost the entire city while spending very few Euros. St Petersburg: There is a lot of talk about having to do ship excursions due to Russian visa requirements; that is NOT TRUE – through cruise critic, I had communicated with several other couples (16 total people) and we booked a two day tour with SBP Tours. SBP takes care of everything, and you are emailed a letter that you present at immigration. We got to see so much more than many others, and there is just too much to write about. Overall I will give very high marks to SBP Tours; they performed as promised and exceeded my expectations. Our small group was very well treated and we went to some out of the way places. The highlight was getting to go inside the “Church of Spilled Blood” which was magnificent (I have been to many churches to include the Vatican and St Mark’s in Venice, but this place topped them all). If you are planning a stop in St. Pete, make sure you get to see the inside of the church! (many other excursion groups got to only see the church from the outside.) Another special touch by SBP Tours, was a 45 minute canal tour/ride at the end of the first day – our group just cruised/toured the canals drinking Russian Vodka just like the locals and got to watch a few wedding gatherings. A great two day stop – perhaps one museum too many but what the heck! Tallinn: There is only one pier, and it is a 15 minute walk from the pier to Old Town with many sights to be taken in along the way. Old Town is the place to discover with many interesting nooks and restaurants and it is very walk-able. For this port my wife and I had planned to do something totally different than sight-seeing and went to “Nõmme Adventure Park”. If you are athletic and want to try something challenging and a whole lot of fun, then I highly recommend you go for it. The park is about a 20 minute taxi ride from Old Town; inside the park there is a course called “rope challenge” with five levels that you climb, swing, zip, balance, ‘Tarzan’ from tree to tree and finish with a zipline, some into a net, at the end of each level. Everything is at your own pace without a guide (just instructions in the beginning & checking up on you after level 3), but you harness yourself to a cable throughout. The course is challenging and each level is more difficult than the one before. My wife and I were the only people in the park from the ship and we had a BLAST. Even the athletic staff on board the ship had not known about this place. Following the course, we went back to Old Town but once again simply ran out of time. Gothenburg: The one port that you have no choice but to use the ship shuttle to get into town. Ships dock at a container pier which is about 20 minutes by car/shuttle from town.Initially I was very apprehensive about this port as I not able to get a lot of information and I thought it would be a waste of time. I WAS DEAD WRONG! This is a lovely and lively city, I took the Padden canal tour which is excellent; lasts about an hr and takes you around most of the canals in town and into the bay. You will pass under numerous bridges and at one bridge, you will actually have to get down on the bottom of the boat in order to go under without injury. There is an extensive tram system in town that I regretfully did not investigate. I did walk and visit the ‘Fish Church’. Do not waste your money on the “Stinsen Train” which is a make-shift tram that takes you on a very short ride around the town square. Be advised that bathrooms are hard to find and will cost you to use. This is a very nice city to do on your own but getting information is difficult and not well presented. You need to discover this lovely city on your own. Final Note: A Baltic cruise is worth every penny! You can ‘museum, castles & church’ sight-see till you drop or try and mix things up like I did. Be advised that northern Europe is quite pricey. Finally, even though not an excursion, make certain you stay up and watch your ship cross under the “Oresund” Bridge that connects Sweden to Denmark (Europe’s longest bridge).

The ladies are getting the action started before the exciting excursions. Cabo San Lucas, Mexico: this is a very nice port; however, having to tender puts a damper on the amount of time you have in port, in addition to the time in port being short in the first place. For this stop, I decided to give “paddle board surfing” a try. Caught a cab to Cabo Surf Hotel (the ride took about 20 minutes and cost $35 – one way). This hotel is simply lovely and is on the water. The surf shop on the beach gives the lesson; it was a little harder than expected but great fun + the hotel would be a great place just to hang out away from the tourist crowd. Acapulco, Mexico: you dock right in town, but this is a busy port with venders everywhere. I chose to take a surfing lesson and arranged with Antonio Diaz (antoniopiquant@hotmail.com). Antonio met me at the dock and away we went to a lovely beach with no vendors. The surfing lessons were great as Antonio is very patient, speaks excellent English and is willing to do what it takes to ensure you have a good time. At the beach, my group and I had a lovely lunch from a small cantina (cost $20) with drinks; Great day! Huatulco, Mexico: this is a terrific port off the beaten path; however, the ship shortened our stop by 5hrs, so my original plan of canyon hiking went out the window. I was in contact with George Hurchalla for the canyon hiking (ghurchalla@hotmail.com); he is an expat and lives in the area. George made a quick change of plans due to the unexpected shortened port time, and the group went snorkeling in a national park; simply lovely. If you are planning a stop in Huatulo and want to do something different, contact George. Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala: my first visit to Guatemala. The ship docks in a small area with not much around except for vendors selling excursions. I had arranged with “Go with Gus” tours. Our party was taken immediately to the Pacaya Volcano where we spent the next two hrs. climbing the volcano. It is not a technically difficult climb, but it is very steep and can be a little slippery. There are numerous individuals attempting to ask if you would rather ride a horse up the trail vs walking; also you can ‘buy’ a walking stick for $1 which you then can give back to the kids ‘selling’ them vs figuring what to do with it when you are finished with the climb. Once you reach the lower level of the summit, the view is lovely and you get a chance to see all the hardened lava. Following the volcano climb, I visited the city of Antigua which is very picturesque with no change of architecture being allowed for hundreds of years. Puntarenas, Costa Rica: it was a fun time; do yourself a favor and go to the adventure park www.adventureparkcostarica.com; nothing more can be said except be ready for a FUN and very active day, and yes, ride the horse to the start of the zip lines. Panama Canal crossing: best kept secret and amazing vantage is the back of the ship in the restaurant overlooking the stern (Summer Palace). There are three locks and at each lock there are chambers which lower or raise the ship; going through the lake is also pretty amazing. Cartegena, Colombia: the ship’s last port. Through facebook, I lucked out and located Gerardo Nieto (gerardonietoco@yahoo.com). Gerardo works in the movie industry and as a hobby and biking enthusiast he takes tourists on bike tours of the lovely island. Gerardo met us at the port (outside the main gates) and off we went. We were fortunate enough to get to visit Gerardo’s lovely home; we were also treated to a great local lunch at a local non-tourist cantina. Our biggest challenge was dodging all the traffic, but what a fun bike day all over the city and getting to see some really neat sights including unusual ones that other tourists don’t get to see.

A lovely yet crowded city spread across seven hills facing the Tagus River! Visiting the city is rather unique as it offers a network of terraces/viewpoints by which one can, admire the city from different vantage points, but look for more on this as I saved all this for day #2. Day #1, I was in Old Town, and although the traffic in is quite congested, that was easily overcome. I had booked a bike/surf tour that included a surf lesson through (www.bikes-company.com ). Our group of four met Miguel our bike guide, and within minutes, we were quickly cycling through the streets, as we made our way to the boardwalk. From then on, we were traffic-free while we biked along the city coastline. We biked below the 25 April Bridge and were able to view the Monument to Christ across the water. Eventually, we rode our bikes onto a ferry which transported us across the Tagus river, winding up almost at the northern tip of the coast (I think it was called Trafaria). We then continued biking along the Coast of Caparica while Miguel continued to point out various sights; great weather, no traffic. Eventually, we stopped at the designated beach and met out surfing instructor, Dário. Following basic surfing instructions and a brief warm-up, we were tackling the waves…..no place for beginners that day! After battling the monster waves for an hour, we all conceded we were tired, cold and hungry. We stopped at a sea side café, had a bite and enjoyed the lovely view before making our way back to Lisbon, reversing our route….a beautiful experience filled with so many experiences, and I got to see the city from a different vantage plus surf a bit and learn a little about the people. Day 2 of visit #1; we spent the entire day touring on the sidecar. An amazing day and so much fun. 2nd visit; ship docks in Old Lisbon so you are close to a number of venues, however, seeing “Cristo Rei” as you sail into this port is an awesome sight. This was my second trip to Lisbon so visiting “Cristo Rei” was on my “must visit list”, but getting to the monument seemed challenging so had to do a little homework. Here is the simple way to reach the monument; as you exit the cruise terminal make a left and follow the river to “Cais do Sodre” ferry terminal. At the ferry terminal buy a round trip ticket at the ticket booth(everyone is helpful) and take the ferry across the river, great views as you cross the river. Once across the river you arrive at “Cacilhas” ferry terminal. Follow the crowd to the bus terminal(on the left) and catch bus 101, you pay the driver for the ticket(keep the receipt) your entire trip travel time is about 45 minutes. You get off the bus at the last stop and then the “Cristo Rei” views come into play, a magnificent structure and the views of 25 April bridge bridge and river are spectacular. As you walk the grounds you will find the 12 Stations of the Cross Plan so plan for at least two hours taking in the views and atmosphere, at the base of the monument there is a lovely small chapel and the elevators to the top of the monument. On the way back to town make sure you allow enough time to sit and grab a bite near the ferry terminal as the area is famous for seafood, love Lisbon.

(Picture-Team “Motley Cru” from close to the top of Mt Tiede in Santa Cruz). Wanting to avoid the standard boring tourist tours for my 10 hour port stop in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands, I did a little bit of research and came up with biking down the 3rd largest volcano in the world. I located “bikerafting.com” (www.raftingbike.com/indexUK.htm) and communicated with them through email. On my arrival as per the instructions, I met Mauricio at the pier exit. My party and I were then driven into town and following a safety briefing (the company is extremely safety conscious) we were taken on a flat pavement bike ride through parts of the city (pedestrians only) followed by a short coffee break. Following our break, we were driven to the national park and up a winding road. As we reached new heights, the weather got colder and we started to see snow and ice on the ground and trees. In addition to the lovely views, we finally got to see the majestic volcano and the fields around which at one time were volcanic ash/rock. Eventually we reached our very high vantage point of Mount Teide (the highest point in Spain) it was amazing to be up in the clouds at an altitude of about 2500 meters (about 10,000ft). We were then fitted with safety and weather gear, given another safety briefing, and began our descent “VIA BIKE”. Take note that it will get extremely cold as you are going downhill at speeds of over 40KPH and with the wind and chill factor, this adventure is not for the meek. The safety van follows behind the last bike rider and is in constant radio contact with the lead bike who is a member of the tour company. A number of stops are conducted during the 3 hr descent, and one of the stops includes a short snack break (typical Spanish/olives, bread and cheese). We eventually descend all the way into one of the outlying towns and bike to a local food establishment for lunch and plenty of wine to celebrate. Following the lunch we are all taken back (this time via van) to the port where we celebrate by drinking champagne. A marvelous and unusual day, getting to do something very few people ever dream of doing. Do yourself a favor and do this – it is not physically strenuous but you need to be prepared for cold temperatures and know how to ride a bike. I cannot say enough for the wonderful service given by the vendor who was extremely safety conscious. Enjoy!

Made two journeys to Sri Lanka, so here are the facts to help you on your visit; Infrastructure within the country is very poor, I rode trains, buses and hired a private car, you will save a ton of money riding the train and bus but you need to be aware they seldom run on time are very dirty and crowded, there are several train routes on the west coast and to the town of Kandy and Ella, besides the train routes I mentioned overall travel within the country without a private car will be challenging, roads are generally in poor condition and it will take time getting from location to location. ATMs are located at all major banks so money exchange is not a problem. The majority of Sri Lankans are friendly and willing to help a fellow traveler but be advised some will expect a tip for helping you out and you will be haggled/harassed/pestered by many street vendors as they are everywhere and the moment they see a non Sri Lankan walking they make a mad dash towards you. My first journey was to tour almost the entire island, start at one point head east then north and then west and ending at the airport Adams Peak; a grueling climb that will take you at least 3hrs to ascend (you can do it in less time if you are in good shape), if you plan to climb at night take a FLASH LIGHT without a flashlight it will be impossible to climb in the non daylight hrs very few lights on the path work and a guide is NOT necessary. If you arrive at the summit before sunrise, it is a pretty impressive sight the temple on the summit with the “footprint” may or may not be open. Bring water for your climb and dress warm as it will get cold and windy the higher you get. No admission charge, the “Slightly Chilled Yellow House” is perhaps the cleanest place to stay in the area and offers an excellent vantage to tackle the peak. Beaches; Unawatuna in the south is perhaps the best beach in Sri Lanka, however, it is quite a distance from Colombo, with calm waters and a small sandy beach Beaches north of Colombo at Negombo were dirty and I saw very few tourists in the water, hotels in the Negombo area are more modern then most of the country and most offer lovely pools with a good view of the beach (I stayed at the Paradise hotel-very nice a great price) . Personally I enjoyed the beaches at Hikkaduwa, I found them to be great for surfing as well as swimming and they where clean + the town has a lot of interesting little places to enjoy, I stayed at the Drifters Hotel, basic & clean 3 star. Yala Park; Very expensive admission (3700R+) and you will need a jeep (extra cost about 4000R) a government guide is provided at no charge. The road into and inside the park is very rough, seeing animals is hit and miss, I would not recommend visiting the park as I thought it was a waste of time and I saw very few animals. The park is located in the southern part of the island. Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage; admission (1000R), and located about an hour west of Kandy. You need to plan your visit around feeding time (morning, late midday and evening) otherwise you will only see the elephants walking to the river to bathe, bathing(at least 2hrs) or walking back to the orphanage. If you arrive after feeding time and the elephants are at the river, DO NOT waste your money by purchasing a ticket, just walk down to the river get a seat at one of the cafes and watch the elephants. Waterfalls; There are numerous lovely waterfalls throughout the island some of which are massive, getting up close and trying to swim in the waterfalls will is be almost impossible except for a few which are located close to the road. Buduruwagala Budu (Buddha); a MUST visit site that is truly awesome. It is the tallest Buddha carved in a rock in existence, the site is located off the beaten path, northeast of Galle and admission is only 200R. This site is very well maintained and a guide will cost you 100-200R and is worth it. Citadel of Sigiriya – Lion Rock; pretty amazing structure, admission is 2800R. Do not be intimated by the climb it is fairly simple and you can go slow. Personally a guide is not needed, I was told that there is a very good museum at the base but I was unable to locate the museum, plan for about a 2hr visit. Scared Tooth Temple: located in the center of the town of Kandy opposite a lake, admission is 500R; you need to have your knees covered to enter. Do not waste your time on a guide rent the audio guide (one of the few sites that I found the audio guide). Do not expect to see the tooth as it is located inside a sealed chamber, but you can see the chamber and take plenty of pictures. Hard to spend more then an hour at the site. Dambulla Cave Temple; located almost in the center of the town of Dambulla, admission is 1000R. No guide needed and there is a small uphill walk to get to the caves. The cave is considered part of the cultural triangle and contains numerous Buddhist relics, on the grounds there is a Buddist museum and be aware that there are vendors everywhere. Modest dress is required for the Cave entrance, do not let that scare you as there are numerous vendors willing to rent you the leg cover, and do not pay more than 50R for that, plan for an hr visit. Towns; I visited many towns so I will highlight a few Kandy- a busy dirty town with not much to see except for the scared tooth temple, Ella- a small little village in the hill country, set among-st the lush green tea plantations, it was ok for a quick visit and you can catch a train from there to Kandy. Ella was not very pedestrian friendly as it is spread out. I visited a much talked about spa and was disappointed in the massage. Galle- in the south on the coast, besides the Old Dutch fort where there are numerous small places to visit; “Printers Hotel”, museums there is not much else. Nuwara Eliya- located south of Kandy, northwest of Ella, I found this to be a lovely town to visit, a touch of old England still exists and pay a visit to the Grand Hotel even if it is just for tea. White water rafting; This is not a town but a much talked about activity, if you have never been rafting then do it, three class III rapids and the rest are very simple, I was told during high water the rapids are more challenging so ask if you are an experienced rafter. Excursions/touring; I spend many hours of research and sent dozens of emails to vendors mentioned in tripadvisor. I settled on Lalith Priyankara owner of the “drifters hotel’ (email drifters-lanka@hotmail.com), I found him to be totally fantastic, he did not go on the trip with me but helped me plan with no pressure, made excellent recommendations and gave me a driver and car that where excellent. He also negotiated good hotel rates before my trip and included them in the tour prince. I would recommend him to all, a wonderful and honest person who wants to promote tourism in Sri Lanka. My return journey to lovely Sri Lanka but this time I decided to slow down and enjoy the sun, surf and local eats. Before arriving Sri Lanka I completed the visa on arrival application paid the fee (using a CC) printed the approval letter, it was a breeze on arrival (make sure you arrival card is filled out). As I made my way towards baggage claim I stopped at the duty free stores and stocked up on drinks (alcoholic kind) alcoholic prices in Sri Lanka are quite high except for local beer. The Colombo airport (located 45 minutes from the city) is new and easily to navigate but traffic through the city is at a snail’s pace I was thinking of spending a few days in Colombo but after much research and talking with fellow travelers decided that would have been a bad choice so I decided to forgo the bus and the train adventure and arranged for direct auto transportation to Hikkaduwa town, cost was $70 and if you had a friend to share my cost would have been cut in half. For my visit to Hikkaduwa, once again I stayed at the Drifters (http://www.driftershotel.com) a very nice hotel(read my review on trip advisor). Hikka is a small tourist town with a very nice beach, restaurants, and tourist shops. There are various clubs scattered along the main road and many facing the ocean but the main attraction is the lovely and gentle waves for wanabe surfers like me. Walking along the beach there is one main small rocky area with some marine life for snorkeling and a few HUGE turtles are usually swimming around, I dropped by the Turtle hatchery which was well worth my time except there were no baby turtles to be released. Besides my miserable efforts at learning how to surf and just hangin out, I took the train to Galle the largest town in the south and walked around the Old Town of Galle and its fortifications. Sri Lanka is a very lovely island prices are reasonable as the island has yet to be discovered, if you are considering this part of the world give this country a look I WILL be BACK!

Picture above- The Booze Brothers Embarkation: Barcelona port is well laid out; less than 10 minutes and I was on board. Have your one page pre-cruise registration ready and you are good to go. After check-in, you will notice a few shops located post check-in where you can pick up some last minute necessities &/or souvenirs, to include the alcohol kind, prior to boarding. Cabins: Booked an inside cabin and got an upgrade. Nice room; standard for NCL, very quiet and a great mattress. Dining/Food: The ship offers a variety of restaurants, but the only free (no extra charge) are the two main (Grand Pacific and Alizar) dining rooms, the buffet, and the small light menu “Blue Lagoon.” For breakfast I recommend the Blue Lagoon for a quiet cup of coffee, but it has a limited menu; I love eating breakfast there and watching the ocean. The buffet for lunch has a nice variety. For dinner I ate all by two of my meals at the “FREE” main dining rooms and rotated between the two. The food was average with some nights better than others. For a special treat I ate at “Le Bistro” (French cuisine) and “Cagney’s” (upscale steak+) and paid the surcharge; Superb both nights! Public Rooms: This ship is very well laid out and is just the right size (in terms of passengers). I loved Bar City (best martinis on the high seas). The Star Bar (next to Cagney’s and only open to the public after 4pm) also makes some great martinis and is quiet and relaxing in the evening. Walking through the casino had the standard strong smoke smell. The wine package is pricey, look for the drink specials to save a few dollars. Note: internet service prices are $.75 per minute with three packages offered. Entertainment: Most excellent, in the evening, you have many choices to hang out and listen to music, a piano player (Bar City), a guitar player in the atrium who rotated to the piano bar, a nice trio at Madusa Lounge and a very good band at the Spinnaker (deck 13). The evening shows were SUPERB! From the hilarious magician to aterrific variety show on day #7, I attended almost every show and was very pleased. “Karaoke” is alive, crowded and limited; so are some unique audience participation shows that are a must. Activities: A variety of activities are offered throughout the cruise, trivia is a huge hit. The entire activities staff was very accommodating and friendly. Excursions: All the excursions were on my own and I went to great lengths to find a good variety. Be warned that in every pier it is a long walk to the pier exit and two piers do not offer any shuttle service. I will post the excursions on a separate post. Disembarkation: Simple and quick; I was off in less than 10 minutes. Overall Thoughts: The cruise exceeded my expectations in every way. The ports were great, the staff on the ship was wonderful. Definitely a must if you want to experience a taste of the Canary Islands/Portugal/Spain in one trip.

A picture of Geiranger is usually posted for every Norwegian Fjords cruise; in real life it is identical in beauty and magnificence. You tender on arrival in Geiranger which is a small village (permanent population of less than 300); the tender to the dock was only 4-5 minutes at the most. Immediately where the tenders drop passengers there are a few souvenir shops and the ever useful Tourist Information Office where we got information about the local bus, a map and were able to use the internet for free. We opted for the local bus up to the Dalsnibba viewpoint (same as the ship excursion but half the price); the bus ride up to Dalsnibba was more of the incredible scenery in Norway – fjords, mountains, waterfalls, lakes, glaciers that take your breath away. Trip up was about an hour, stopping for picture taking once along the way. We had 20 – 30 minutes at the top viewpoint where there is also a souvenir shop. Back in town, we hit the souvenir shops again and did a little more exploring, stopping at the general store before returning to the ship. Sailing back out to sea, we passed the Seven Sisters, Bridal Veil and the Suitor Waterfall and made sure we were in the Champagne Lounge on board ship in order to get some more amazing pictures.

I packed my backpack and bought a ticket on Laotian airlines and flew to the UNESCO world heritage town of Luang Prabang (LP) exotic Laos. When you land at LP you immediately get the feel of a rural jungle atmosphere with simple villagers tending crops or going about their daily lives laid back in the word to describe the most visited town (tourists) in Laos. No need to worry about a visa, you are issued a visa on arrival and depending on your passport pay a fee, as you walk out of the airport there is an ATM at the exit door. Outside the airport there are taxis that you can share with other travelers taxis charge one fixed rate to take you into town, if you share with others you also share the price and it is a decent deal, I decided to walk a bit and flag a local tuk tuk which was a bad decision as my price was the same as the shared van and it was a walk on dusty dirt roads. LP is a small town surrounded on three sides by a Nam Song River river and very easy to find navigate. I booked a room at Villa Meuang Lao a very nice small family run hotel in a superb location, be aware that LP seems to have two kinds of hotels, the overpriced ones that claim they are 4-5 star(more like 2-3 starts)s and the budget backpacker guesthouses that cater to different tastes, the place I stayed did not have a website so I booked through an agency and got a good deal. As for what to do; booked a trip to Kuang Si Falls a lovely cascade waterfalls but going all the way to the top on a very rough path does not give any better views getting to the falls is easy just go to the street near the post office and join a group. As you enter the falls park you will walk through a cute brown bear rescue center. I also visited Tad Sae falls that are not as good and quite small. LP is a town filled with WATS (Temples) and there are just too many to mention but will keep any temple connoisseur busy, as to cover as much ground as needed I rented a bike and made my way around town, no bike path but traffic it is very light. Defiantly drop by the former Royal Palace which is now the National Museum, the palace was built by French as a royal residence to the last monarchy of Laos. A visit to LP can be complete until you climb Mount Phousi for the sunset. It is a hill lying in the center of the city where there is a small temple of Phousi on top. After climbing 328 steps up from the entrance to the top, you can have a nice view of the LP landscape. Overall, an interesting town that gave me a taste of Laotian culture and due to the UNESCO seal much of the town retains its former self. I am not a shopper but bargains are to be had everywhere.

Been to Aruba numerous occasions and every time I visit the island I find something fun to do, this time I opted for “Land Sailing”. Contact through email(http://www.aruba-active-vactions.com) was very simple and I was sent very accurate bus instructions. I arrived at the Blue huts(on the beach) and lucked out by having “Remco” as our instructor/guide. Bus instructions; If you want to take the bus to the location it is very simple, as you exit the cruise port cross the main street and you will see the bus station/terminal. Buy your ticket(dollars are accepted) and get on the “arubus” . The bus will take you to a stop by the Ritz hotel( it is the last stop), walk to the beach the area is called the fisherman’s huts and you will see the blue huts. A must activity for the active person, happy land sailing. Next time in Aruba I wanted to see Arikok National Park. However, no matter who I contacted, no vendor was available, so, instead, I took a chance and just walked off the ship, testing my luck which, alas, also proved fruitless. Many vendors as you come off the ship are trying to sell you snorkeling tours or transportation to beaches where you can snorkel; but I had done my homework and discovered there is perhaps one good snorkeling location on the island while the rest of the locations are reefs that are dead and filled with tourists hoping to see something besides a few corals. Plan B was to grab the local free tram for a run around the city, but due to inclement weather conditions, the trams were not running. So I fell back on plan C and just walked around aimlessly without a purpose but lucked into discovering (too late!) Aruba Bob Snorkeling – the real snorkeling guru outfit … maybe next time. A few places to put on your list is the lighthouse, the chapel, rock formations and to the mangroves for which was pretty decent for snorkeling.

Chiang Rai is a lovely town in Northern Thailand and very close to the Burma/Laos border. At one time CR was the northern capitol of Thailand. I booked myself a trip myself to the Golden Triangle where all three countries meet (Burma, Laos, Thailand); it was a fun journey and only about an hour from CR. Along the way I visited the lovely White Temple (an ongoing project); then visited the Black House/Baan Si Dum (a complete opposite of the White Temple) before heading north. While at the Golden Triangle/Sob Ruak, I stopped at the infamous Hall of Opium, a museum of the history of opium and the impact of illegal drugs. For the next few days, I rented a bicycle and made my way to the various temples to include Wat Phra Kaeo where the Emerald Buddha was originally found, different monuments and too many temples to name, but being on a bike was great. I took a short river boat trip up and down the Mekong River stopping at a few places – the hot springs (a waste of time) and CR Beach (very dirty). I biked to Boomaring Park which looked like fun but just ran out of time. For quick snacks I frequented the “connect café” (opposite the bus station), but in the evening I made my way to the night market and experienced the many local dishes, enjoying the entertainment to include people watching and endless vendors selling everything under the sun. My journey eventually came to an end. If you ever have the chance, give Chiang Rai a visit; it is often overlooked.

The ship can dock at various locations around the pier, so be prepared to a walk. We were scheduled to do a GPS hike at Mt. Ulriken, taking a local bus and a cable car in order to get there. However, due to the rain, we decided against this activity and headed into town with some friends along the Skoltegrunskaien Pier/waterfront. About a 15 minute walk brought us to the Fish Market area, at which point we looked for our vendor to see if we could just do the GPS sightseeing in town but couldn’t find the office for Bergen Base Camp (www.bergenbasecamp.com; anne@bergenbasecamp.no). We did find the Tourist Information office, but it was very crowded (Bergen is the 2nd largest city in Norway) so we wandered through the fish market, admiring the different offerings and were stunned by the stratospheric prices. We then decided to head on over to the Funicular Station (about 150 meters from the Fish Market), hoping that by the time we got tickets (80 NOK pp) and got up to the Mt. Floyen viewpoint, the rain would have let up and the fog would be gone. Line was not as long as anticipated – probably due to the weather and lack of visibility – and we were up on top before noon. The ride up was actually a little different in that we passed through several tunnels that went under various roads in town before beginning the main part of the ‘climb’ up to the top. At the viewpoint, we walked around a bit; one of our group went a little further into the nicely wooded area and discovered that there were rope ‘bridges’ to walk along, very large wood sculptures of trolls and other ‘creatures’, large rocks painted as trolls… and with the fog and mist, it all had a very magical and fairy tale quality to it – great photo op! After about 20 minutes of wandering we had decided to go back down the funicular when all of a sudden, the rain stopped, the fog lifted and we had the most amazing view of Bergen! Everything we had hoped for! Back in town, we wandered through the various shops and discovered Håkonshallen and Rosenkrantz Tower, part of Bergen’s fortifications, and Bryggen, which is the site of an old Hanseatic wharf and merchants’ buildings. The old timber originals of the merchant buildings were destroyed by fire in 1702 but rebuilt (typical Norwegian history – can’t be trusted with fire!). Most of the buildings are now tourist souvenir shops these days, although there are a few left that are just historical and / or museums. Since this was our final port, we did do some shopping, trying to spend whatever NOK we had left.