Thursday, 10/03/13 Busan, Korea
As the ship slowly made its way into Busan harbor, the view for miles was of a forest of high rise apartment buildings. Busan (formerly Pusan) is South Korea’s second largest city. The population of Busan is now 3.5 million, and that is a decline from a former population of 5 million. It seems that the corporations and the jobs are moving north in
South Korea, to the area near Seoul, where labor is more plentiful and cheaper than in the Busan area. Still, the forest of high rise apartment buildings stretched for miles.
Korea was divided in 1945, after World War II, and the division was confirmed by the Korean War 1950-1953. After the Korean War, all of Korea was desperately poor, and many thousands of people died of starvation. The poverty continued until the early 1970s, when the United States pressed South Korea to support the Vietnam war. South Korea had no military, and no money to support the United States in the Vietnam War; however, the United States offered to give South Korea the rights to all construction projects in the war if they would support the war. For the first time, South Korea had an opportunity to improve its economic situation, and they took it. As the war went on, South Korea gained knowledge and experience in construction projects, and they are still now called upon for construction projects around the world. That was the beginning of the economic turnaround in South Korea, and the country has continued its economic growth since then. It is now one of the economic powerhouses in the world. Busan is one of the top five ports in the world as measured by the number of containers processed there, and the port is very impressive. A new bridge crosses the harbor, adding beauty to the port.
Because the Korean people suffered deep poverty for so long, they now want only new products. There are very few cars on the roads that are not new, as well as the roads, the apartment buildings, the appliances and everything else. In addition, they have kept few historic sites, although they now recognize the value of historic sites in tourism, and they now are reconstructing some historic sites.
The tour included several historic sites designated World Heritage Sites by UNESCO. The first site was Tumuli Park, the home of 20 royal tombs dating back to the Silla Dynasty, including Chonmachong, or “Flying Horse” tomb, that was excavated in 1973. The tombs of Tumuli Park are located in Tumuli Village, which is part of the UNESCO designation, and is filled with historic houses and buildings that are occupied and in use. No external changes can be made in these buildings. This site is about 1.5 hour’s drive from the port. Although the tour stopped at the tombs, one sad aspect of the tour was it did not include a photo stop at the village, and there was no opportunity to take photos of the interesting buildings there.
After this visit, the tour stopped for a large buffet lunch at a local hotel. This lunch was not the greatest; it was definitely a “tourist” luncheon. One of the items at the buffet was Kimchi, the national dish of Korea; this is a cabbage dish that is fermented and very spicy. This dish is so important in Korea that many households have two refrigerators, one used solely for Kimchi. The luncheon included a very beautiful folk dance.
After lunch, the tour went to the Bulguska Temple, a very impressive Buddhist temple that was constructed about 750 AD, and also designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The tour guide discussed Buddhism, which has been the national religion of Korea since around 700 AD. Buddhism originated in India, traveled to China, and then on to Korea and Japan. The basic tenet of Buddhism is that desire is the cause of all pain in life, and the path to peace is letting of all desire.
One interesting tidbit that the tour guide pointed out concerns the appearance of Korean women. She said that it is often very difficult to tell the age of a Korean woman who is between the ages of 25 and 60. As an example, she asked the people on the bus to guess her age. She appeared to be 25-30, but she said that she was in fact 46. Everyone was shocked; she certainly did not appear to be 46. She was asked if she was married, and she said “no”, that she was never wanted by any man. She was very well educated, including graduate studies in America, and in Asia, many educated women are not wanted as wives because they outshine their husbands.
Busan is a very interesting city, and the tour barely touched on the interesting aspects of the city. It would be very interesting to return and spend some time there. Busan stretches for miles along a valley, and almost all of the city is in that long valley, with high rise apartment buildings rising up along the sides of the valley.
Thursday, October 03, 2013
Tuesday, October 01, 2013
Tuesday, 10/01/13 Vladivostok, Russia
Tuesday, 10/01/13
Vladivostok, Russia
The ship arrived in
Vladivostok at 4:00 a.m. and it is scheduled to leave at 7:00 p.m. Evidently,
the timing was intended to prevent passengers from taking lots of photos of the
Russian navy that is based here. Only a couple of destroyers were docked near
the ship; although I took photos, they were not very rewarding. The weather in
Vladivostok was really great -- low 70s and sunny -- perfect for walking and
sightseeing.
I had not registered for a
ship tour, preferring to go for a walk on the main streets. However, when I
woke and looked out at the city, it appeared to me that walking all the way to
the farthest church that I wanted to visit was too far. Therefore, I did as I
have done so many times in the past; I looked for a taxi. Taxis were lined up
in front of the train station, just outside the cruise terminal, and I quickly
found one that would take American money, and who could speak enough English
that he could take me where I wanted to go. He took me to every site that I had
planned to see, and a few more, and he charged only $50, only about one-third
the cost of a ship tour that would visit only a few sites. He was a really nice
guy, and I enjoyed seeing all the sights I had planned to see.
After the "tour" I
walked for a while, visiting the Victory Arch and submarine museum.
Afterward, I stopped in a
nice Russian restaurant for borscht and an apple pastry. It was perfect, and I
was able to pay with a card, so I didn't need to get Russian money.
After lunch I walked for
another hour, and then went back to the ship, and on to the terminal building
for free WiFi, so I could update my blog.
Several observations about
Vladivostok will stay with me. First, I
have never before seen so many very tall, very thin, very pretty young women as
in Vladivostok. It seemed that every
other young woman was very tall, very thin, and very pretty. Virtually all of them wore very tight-fitting
dark pants (I‘m sure with Spandex), and most of them wore very high heels,
making them even taller. They all had
long hair; none had short hair. The sight
of these tall, thin, pretty women was truly striking.
Second, I was struck that so
many cars had steering wheels on the right, even though they drove on the right
side of the street. I was reminded of
St. Thomas, where the same thing occurs.
I was told that the reason was that many of the cars in Vladivostok are
imported from Japan, and the steering is not changed because it is less
expensive to purchase Japanese cars with the steering on the right. I noticed that almost all of the cars were
Japanese.
Third, the traffic was truly
choking. It was incredible. It barely moved. Making it worse was the lack of parking
space. There seemed to be no parking
lots or garages, and cars parked everywhere.
On many streets, the cars parked two and three deep, leaving only one
very narrow lane down the center of the street for traffic.
Fourth, the people were very
friendly. So many people smiled and said
hello, and even when they could not speak English, they tried to be
helpful. I really liked the people of
Vladivostok, and I would like very much to return there someday.
Update:
The ship was an hour late
leaving the port because several passengers had not returned their passports to
passenger services; the ship left the dock at 8:00 p.m., well after the
scheduled time to depart, and in darkness.
However, as the ship sailed out of the port, I went up top to watch and
take a few photos (in the dark), and I noticed that we passed no Russian navy
vessels. So the reason for the dark
arrival and departure
As we sailed out of the
harbor, we passed under a huge new bridge that was very impressive. I will have to look up that bridge when I get
back home.
Monday, 09/30/13 Day at Sea
Monday, 09/30/13 At Sea
Another foggy, rainy day at sea between Sapporo and Vladivostok. A quiet day. Watched football games: Denver vs. Philadelphia, and then New England vs. Atlanta. Lecture on “Introduction to Buddhism.” Production show: “Piano Man,” which we saw on the Vancouver to Alaska leg of the trip, so we decided to stay in our room and watch the movie, "The Words", with Bradley Cooper. I doubt that th emovie made money for its investors, but it was an interesting movie about the question, "How do you know what is real and what is fiction?".
During the afternoon, Rae visited the spa for her second of three spa treatments, and she was very relaxed.
Another foggy, rainy day at sea between Sapporo and Vladivostok. A quiet day. Watched football games: Denver vs. Philadelphia, and then New England vs. Atlanta. Lecture on “Introduction to Buddhism.” Production show: “Piano Man,” which we saw on the Vancouver to Alaska leg of the trip, so we decided to stay in our room and watch the movie, "The Words", with Bradley Cooper. I doubt that th emovie made money for its investors, but it was an interesting movie about the question, "How do you know what is real and what is fiction?".
During the afternoon, Rae visited the spa for her second of three spa treatments, and she was very relaxed.
Sunday, 09/29/13 Sapporo, Japan
Sunday, 09/29/13 Sapporo, Japan
Took the ship bus to Sapporo -- “On Your Own”. The seats in the bus were very small, a very tight fit for two people. Clearly, the seat width was made for Japanese people, who are smaller than average Americans. The drive to Sapporo was about two hours, and uneventful along an expressway. The scenery was mostly trees and rolling hills. Sapporo, a city of about 2 million, was the site of the 1972 Winter Olympics. Upon arriving in Sapporo, I was surprised that it was a very flat city that did not seem to have a population of 2 million; however, it is the fifth largest city in Japan. Although there were a number of high-rise buildings, there were not many, and most were not very high -- perhaps 20 floors or so for the tallest. To the west, the mountains were quite high, and it was easy to understand how the winter games could be held there.
The bus dropped passengers at the tallest structure in the city, the TV tower, which seemed to be modeled after the Eifel Tower, only it was bright red. The TV tower sits at the eastern end of Odori Park, a long, narrow park running east-west in the heart of the city. The park was originally put there as a fire break in case of fire in downtown. However, it is now a long green strip that is a very pretty park, with a pretty fountain. On this day, there was an Autumn Festival with music and food. The weather turned out to be glorious -- sunny and warm, and since it was a Sunday, many people were out enjoying the weather and the festival.
My first task was to walk to the large -- VERY large -- BIC camera store to purchase a replacement lens hood for my 24-70 Nikon lens. The previous one had been damaged when my camera strap came loose and the camera fell. Fortunately, the lens hood functioned as a cushion, breaking the fall of the camera, and the lens and camera were not damaged. However, I needed to replace the lens hood as well as the camera strap. Fortunately, a young associate spoke English, and he was very helpful in locating the items that I needed. After he learned that I was foreign, he said that I would qualify for a duty free purchase; he escorted me to a clearly marked “duty free“ cash register, and I was not required to pay taxes on my purchase.
After stopping at the camera store, I walked back toward Odori Park to look at the Autumn Festival. I also wanted to visit the large underground shopping center under two of the large downtown streets. When I found my way into the underground shopping center, I was surprised to see how large it was. It was immense, running for blocks under two of the large downtown streets. It was very modern and clean and lighted in a colorful way to make shopping a happy experience. After walking for a while, I stopped at a tea room for some tea and pastries before returning to the TV tower for the bus to return to the ship. Once on the bus, I fell asleep for a while before the bus stopped for a break on the way back to the ship.
Japan is an aging society with a shrinking population, and I expected to see an older population, as in Florida. However, the people on the streets and in the stores were almost entirely younger people. I was there on Sunday, and kids were not in school, so there were a lot of kids out enjoying the nice weather. However, it was really noticeable that there were hardly any older people anywhere I went.
One of the most interesting sights in Sapporo was the way the young women dressed. They dressed in very short, frilly skirts, with adornments to show off their legs. It seemed that most of the young women wore very short skirts, with pretty, frilly shoes, and some type of adornment for their legs. Their skirts all had frilly bottoms -- lace or other adornment at the bottoms of the skirts. Some wore thigh high nylons, with their short skirts clearly showing the tops of their nylons. Others wore garter belts with frilly straps hooked to the tops of their nylons, and clearly displayed below the hems of their short skirts. Others wore nylons that were decorated in many ways, such as a wide seam up the back of the leg, or other pattern in the nylons. Such remarkable attention to detail in showing off their legs.
Took the ship bus to Sapporo -- “On Your Own”. The seats in the bus were very small, a very tight fit for two people. Clearly, the seat width was made for Japanese people, who are smaller than average Americans. The drive to Sapporo was about two hours, and uneventful along an expressway. The scenery was mostly trees and rolling hills. Sapporo, a city of about 2 million, was the site of the 1972 Winter Olympics. Upon arriving in Sapporo, I was surprised that it was a very flat city that did not seem to have a population of 2 million; however, it is the fifth largest city in Japan. Although there were a number of high-rise buildings, there were not many, and most were not very high -- perhaps 20 floors or so for the tallest. To the west, the mountains were quite high, and it was easy to understand how the winter games could be held there.
The bus dropped passengers at the tallest structure in the city, the TV tower, which seemed to be modeled after the Eifel Tower, only it was bright red. The TV tower sits at the eastern end of Odori Park, a long, narrow park running east-west in the heart of the city. The park was originally put there as a fire break in case of fire in downtown. However, it is now a long green strip that is a very pretty park, with a pretty fountain. On this day, there was an Autumn Festival with music and food. The weather turned out to be glorious -- sunny and warm, and since it was a Sunday, many people were out enjoying the weather and the festival.
My first task was to walk to the large -- VERY large -- BIC camera store to purchase a replacement lens hood for my 24-70 Nikon lens. The previous one had been damaged when my camera strap came loose and the camera fell. Fortunately, the lens hood functioned as a cushion, breaking the fall of the camera, and the lens and camera were not damaged. However, I needed to replace the lens hood as well as the camera strap. Fortunately, a young associate spoke English, and he was very helpful in locating the items that I needed. After he learned that I was foreign, he said that I would qualify for a duty free purchase; he escorted me to a clearly marked “duty free“ cash register, and I was not required to pay taxes on my purchase.
After stopping at the camera store, I walked back toward Odori Park to look at the Autumn Festival. I also wanted to visit the large underground shopping center under two of the large downtown streets. When I found my way into the underground shopping center, I was surprised to see how large it was. It was immense, running for blocks under two of the large downtown streets. It was very modern and clean and lighted in a colorful way to make shopping a happy experience. After walking for a while, I stopped at a tea room for some tea and pastries before returning to the TV tower for the bus to return to the ship. Once on the bus, I fell asleep for a while before the bus stopped for a break on the way back to the ship.
Japan is an aging society with a shrinking population, and I expected to see an older population, as in Florida. However, the people on the streets and in the stores were almost entirely younger people. I was there on Sunday, and kids were not in school, so there were a lot of kids out enjoying the nice weather. However, it was really noticeable that there were hardly any older people anywhere I went.
One of the most interesting sights in Sapporo was the way the young women dressed. They dressed in very short, frilly skirts, with adornments to show off their legs. It seemed that most of the young women wore very short skirts, with pretty, frilly shoes, and some type of adornment for their legs. Their skirts all had frilly bottoms -- lace or other adornment at the bottoms of the skirts. Some wore thigh high nylons, with their short skirts clearly showing the tops of their nylons. Others wore garter belts with frilly straps hooked to the tops of their nylons, and clearly displayed below the hems of their short skirts. Others wore nylons that were decorated in many ways, such as a wide seam up the back of the leg, or other pattern in the nylons. Such remarkable attention to detail in showing off their legs.
Saturday, 09/28/13 At Sea Day 6
Saturday, 09/28/13 At Sea Day 6
Sun and calm seas! At last! This morning was the first morning to see the sunrise since Vancouver. Seas were “Slight” with swells of 1-2 feet (0.5-1 meters), and the temperature was 52 degrees F. Later, the seas became “Moderate” with winds of 14 knots, or 16 mph. The ship has sailed 2700 miles since Whittier, with 400 miles to go to Muroran.
Attended the port lecture on Dalian, and it was okay today -- just okay.
At one point the port lecturer, Heather, talked about the customs procedures for Muroran tomorrow. She said that everyone would be required to give fingerprints (by touching a screen), but she did not warn people to clean their fingers with an antiseptic wipe afterwards. In 2009, when I was here on this same ship, 500 people got sick after the fingerprint process because they did not clean their fingers afterwards, and the entire ship was quarantined in Shanghai. After the lecture today, I went to the tour office and told them about the previous experience and asked them to warn people to clean their fingers after the fingerprint process; however, they were very nasty to me and told me that they didn’t need any advice from me because they know how to do things. I asked them if Princess would have wipes available for people to use after the fingerprint process, and they simply repeated to me that they know how to do their jobs and they don’t need any advice from me. What jerks.
Late afternoon, I went up to Skywalkers Lounge for the predinner drinks for Platinum and Elite members. Although I didn’t get a drink, I did sit and look out at the seas for a few minutes, and the view was worth the effort -- a large school of dolphins suddenly appeared swimming all along the ship from the bow to the stern. There must have been at least 50 of them, and they were jumping in groups of up to six at a time. They seemed to be everywhere jumping all over the place. The sight of all those dolphins jumping and playing was really incredible.
Sun and calm seas! At last! This morning was the first morning to see the sunrise since Vancouver. Seas were “Slight” with swells of 1-2 feet (0.5-1 meters), and the temperature was 52 degrees F. Later, the seas became “Moderate” with winds of 14 knots, or 16 mph. The ship has sailed 2700 miles since Whittier, with 400 miles to go to Muroran.
Attended the port lecture on Dalian, and it was okay today -- just okay.
At one point the port lecturer, Heather, talked about the customs procedures for Muroran tomorrow. She said that everyone would be required to give fingerprints (by touching a screen), but she did not warn people to clean their fingers with an antiseptic wipe afterwards. In 2009, when I was here on this same ship, 500 people got sick after the fingerprint process because they did not clean their fingers afterwards, and the entire ship was quarantined in Shanghai. After the lecture today, I went to the tour office and told them about the previous experience and asked them to warn people to clean their fingers after the fingerprint process; however, they were very nasty to me and told me that they didn’t need any advice from me because they know how to do things. I asked them if Princess would have wipes available for people to use after the fingerprint process, and they simply repeated to me that they know how to do their jobs and they don’t need any advice from me. What jerks.
Late afternoon, I went up to Skywalkers Lounge for the predinner drinks for Platinum and Elite members. Although I didn’t get a drink, I did sit and look out at the seas for a few minutes, and the view was worth the effort -- a large school of dolphins suddenly appeared swimming all along the ship from the bow to the stern. There must have been at least 50 of them, and they were jumping in groups of up to six at a time. They seemed to be everywhere jumping all over the place. The sight of all those dolphins jumping and playing was really incredible.
Friday, 09/27/13 At Sea Day 5
Friday, 09/27/13 At Sea Day 5
Another day of heavy overcast and light rain, as every day has been since Vancouver.
Attended the port lecture for Qingdao, which again was quite poor. The port lecturer, Heather, is such a nice, pleasant person, but her lectures are not good.
After the port lecture, I watched the football game between San Francisco and St. Louis, which I also found to be boring. I was just not interested in the teams.
Another day with no Internet service -- the second day in a row with no Internet service on the ship. Princess could pay for a better satellite connection, but chooses not to do that. As a result, passengers do not have Internet access on many of the days, particularly days at sea.
Just before dinner, I had signed up for us to sit for formal black and white portraits in the “dark room”, with Korli, a professional photographer on the ship from South Africa. She was also the teacher in the photography classes. There was a special promotion on the ship for ladies to get their make up, hair and even the loan of Swarovski jewelry for the photos. Rae got her make up done by Demi, from South Africa, and she did a really great job. Rae wore her own jewelry and needed only a touch-up for her hair. Korli did a really great job, and we will look at the photos on the day at sea after Vladivostok.
At dinner, something shocking happened -- SUN!! The clouds disappeared and the sun shined just at sunset. Although the sunset was not spectacular, at least there was a sunset. This was the first time we had seen the sun since Vancouver, and many people were out on the decks to see the sunset.
The evening was formal, and we attended the Captain’s reception, where he announced that of the 2700 passengers on board, about 350 were Elite. I was very surprised; usually it seems that almost half of the passengers are Elite.
The entertainment was a production show, “Words and Music”, featuring music from Broadway musicals.
American musicals. It was really excellent, as always.
Another day of heavy overcast and light rain, as every day has been since Vancouver.
Attended the port lecture for Qingdao, which again was quite poor. The port lecturer, Heather, is such a nice, pleasant person, but her lectures are not good.
After the port lecture, I watched the football game between San Francisco and St. Louis, which I also found to be boring. I was just not interested in the teams.
Another day with no Internet service -- the second day in a row with no Internet service on the ship. Princess could pay for a better satellite connection, but chooses not to do that. As a result, passengers do not have Internet access on many of the days, particularly days at sea.
Just before dinner, I had signed up for us to sit for formal black and white portraits in the “dark room”, with Korli, a professional photographer on the ship from South Africa. She was also the teacher in the photography classes. There was a special promotion on the ship for ladies to get their make up, hair and even the loan of Swarovski jewelry for the photos. Rae got her make up done by Demi, from South Africa, and she did a really great job. Rae wore her own jewelry and needed only a touch-up for her hair. Korli did a really great job, and we will look at the photos on the day at sea after Vladivostok.
At dinner, something shocking happened -- SUN!! The clouds disappeared and the sun shined just at sunset. Although the sunset was not spectacular, at least there was a sunset. This was the first time we had seen the sun since Vancouver, and many people were out on the decks to see the sunset.
The evening was formal, and we attended the Captain’s reception, where he announced that of the 2700 passengers on board, about 350 were Elite. I was very surprised; usually it seems that almost half of the passengers are Elite.
The entertainment was a production show, “Words and Music”, featuring music from Broadway musicals.
American musicals. It was really excellent, as always.
Thursday, 09/26/13 At Sea Day 4
Thursday, 09/26/13 At Sea Day 4
During the night, the ship passed across the International Date Line, so we go directly from Tuesday, September 24 to Thursday, September 26, skipping past Wednesday, September 25. The weather continues to be completely overcast, with fog, mist, and light rain all day. Today’s seas -- “Moderate” -- with swells of 4-7 feet or 1-2 meters.
Attended the port lecture for Busan, which was quite poor; and the port lecturer continues to give inaccurate information. For example, today she said that the ship would accept foreign currency as payment for bills at the end of the cruise, and that is false -- the ship will accept only American currency as payment for bills or for any other reason, nor will the ship exchange foreign currency for American currency. Her lectures are really quite poor.
Attended the photography class -- today’s topic, “Creative Lighting.” Although the “creative lighting” part was minimal, the class was very good, and it lasted more than two hours. The class ended with a photoshoot of the atrium of the ship; the purpose was to learn to adjust the White Balance to minimize the yellow tones of the atrium. After the class, Jean-Luc, one of the professional photographers on the ship (from South Africa), took my camera and checked the settings, and suggested changing several of the settings to improve my photos, in particular he suggested putting the color setting to Adobe RGB. He said that would improve the colors of my photos.
While I was at my photo class, Rae went to the Spa for a massage. Ummm.
During the night, the ship passed across the International Date Line, so we go directly from Tuesday, September 24 to Thursday, September 26, skipping past Wednesday, September 25. The weather continues to be completely overcast, with fog, mist, and light rain all day. Today’s seas -- “Moderate” -- with swells of 4-7 feet or 1-2 meters.
Attended the port lecture for Busan, which was quite poor; and the port lecturer continues to give inaccurate information. For example, today she said that the ship would accept foreign currency as payment for bills at the end of the cruise, and that is false -- the ship will accept only American currency as payment for bills or for any other reason, nor will the ship exchange foreign currency for American currency. Her lectures are really quite poor.
Attended the photography class -- today’s topic, “Creative Lighting.” Although the “creative lighting” part was minimal, the class was very good, and it lasted more than two hours. The class ended with a photoshoot of the atrium of the ship; the purpose was to learn to adjust the White Balance to minimize the yellow tones of the atrium. After the class, Jean-Luc, one of the professional photographers on the ship (from South Africa), took my camera and checked the settings, and suggested changing several of the settings to improve my photos, in particular he suggested putting the color setting to Adobe RGB. He said that would improve the colors of my photos.
While I was at my photo class, Rae went to the Spa for a massage. Ummm.
Tuesday, 09/24/13 At Sea Day 3
Tuesday, 09/24/13 At Sea Day 3
After the calm day yesterday, the captain said that the ship would encounter another storm early this morning, and indeed, about 7:00 a.m., the ship began to encounter rough seas. By 8:00 a.m. the full force of the storm was upon the ship, with high winds and high seas, and throughout the day, the storm increased until mid-afternoon, when it finally began to abate. On the TV weather channel, the wind speed was 63 knots, or 72 mph; the seas were 12-26 feet, or 4-8 meters. This storm was more intense than the storm of two days ago, even though the winds were not as high. The ship listed very badly, making walking much more difficult than in the previous storm. Perhaps the difference was wind direction.
At breakfast, we sat at a large table with others, and the subject of living life until the end of life -- including travel -- came up. That led to a discussion of the amount of time left before dying, and a woman at the table, Paula, from Queensland, Australia, talked about having a heart attack at age 24, and living on borrowed time since then (she said she is now 66). She then talked about having “died” when she had a heart attack, and I asked her to describe that experience. She said that she had a feeling of such intense peace that it was completely indescribable. She went on to describe the feeling of regaining consciousness and how the feeling of intense peace slowly evaporated. She said that since then, she has absolutely no fear of dying because she is certain that death is that state of intense, indescribable peace. She was a midwife, and she talked about sitting with people who were dying, and when she touched them, she was able to transfer that feeling of peace to them. When they were very agitated, her touch calmed them and gave them peace.
After the calm day yesterday, the captain said that the ship would encounter another storm early this morning, and indeed, about 7:00 a.m., the ship began to encounter rough seas. By 8:00 a.m. the full force of the storm was upon the ship, with high winds and high seas, and throughout the day, the storm increased until mid-afternoon, when it finally began to abate. On the TV weather channel, the wind speed was 63 knots, or 72 mph; the seas were 12-26 feet, or 4-8 meters. This storm was more intense than the storm of two days ago, even though the winds were not as high. The ship listed very badly, making walking much more difficult than in the previous storm. Perhaps the difference was wind direction.
At breakfast, we sat at a large table with others, and the subject of living life until the end of life -- including travel -- came up. That led to a discussion of the amount of time left before dying, and a woman at the table, Paula, from Queensland, Australia, talked about having a heart attack at age 24, and living on borrowed time since then (she said she is now 66). She then talked about having “died” when she had a heart attack, and I asked her to describe that experience. She said that she had a feeling of such intense peace that it was completely indescribable. She went on to describe the feeling of regaining consciousness and how the feeling of intense peace slowly evaporated. She said that since then, she has absolutely no fear of dying because she is certain that death is that state of intense, indescribable peace. She was a midwife, and she talked about sitting with people who were dying, and when she touched them, she was able to transfer that feeling of peace to them. When they were very agitated, her touch calmed them and gave them peace.
Monday, 09/23/13 Quiet Day at Sea
Monday, 09/23/13 Quiet Day at Sea
After the storm yesterday, the captain altered course to find calmer conditions. He had been on a course along the Pacific Ocean side of the Aleutian Islands. To find calmer conditions, he slipped between the Aleutian Islands to the North side, the Bering Sea side, and indeed the sea conditions were calmer. He announced that he would continue along the Bering Sea side of the Aleutian Islands until he was past the Islands and then he would need to swing south toward Japan.
Aboard ship, there was a lecture by the Port Lecturer, Heather Hopkins Clement, about the Japanese port of Muroran, and Sapporo, on the island of Hokkaido. The evening was formal, and the production show was, “Do You Wanna Dance,” with the Princess singers and dancers. The show was really excellent, as all the production shows are, with standing room only in the theater.
After the storm yesterday, the captain altered course to find calmer conditions. He had been on a course along the Pacific Ocean side of the Aleutian Islands. To find calmer conditions, he slipped between the Aleutian Islands to the North side, the Bering Sea side, and indeed the sea conditions were calmer. He announced that he would continue along the Bering Sea side of the Aleutian Islands until he was past the Islands and then he would need to swing south toward Japan.
Aboard ship, there was a lecture by the Port Lecturer, Heather Hopkins Clement, about the Japanese port of Muroran, and Sapporo, on the island of Hokkaido. The evening was formal, and the production show was, “Do You Wanna Dance,” with the Princess singers and dancers. The show was really excellent, as all the production shows are, with standing room only in the theater.
Sunday, 09/22/13 Storm At Sea
Sunday, 09/22/13 Storm At Sea
The previous evening, as the cruise out of Whittier got underway, the captain announced that heavy seas could be expected, and during the night, the ship began to jerk and shake heavily as the ship encountered heavy weather. In the morning, the motion grew stronger. The headline on the weather report on the ship’s TV system showed “Violent Storm”, with winds of 72 knots, or 84 mph, and seas of 12-18 feet (4-6 meters), and a temperature of 40 degrees F (about 5.9 degrees C). I had previously read that the Northern Pacific could be rough sailing, particularly in the Autumn, and this storm certainly bore that forecast out. The storm continued throughout the day with no let-up.
The previous evening, as the cruise out of Whittier got underway, the captain announced that heavy seas could be expected, and during the night, the ship began to jerk and shake heavily as the ship encountered heavy weather. In the morning, the motion grew stronger. The headline on the weather report on the ship’s TV system showed “Violent Storm”, with winds of 72 knots, or 84 mph, and seas of 12-18 feet (4-6 meters), and a temperature of 40 degrees F (about 5.9 degrees C). I had previously read that the Northern Pacific could be rough sailing, particularly in the Autumn, and this storm certainly bore that forecast out. The storm continued throughout the day with no let-up.
Saturday, 09/21/13 Catamaran Cruise of Prince William Sound
Saturday, 09/21/13 Catamaran Cruise of Prince William Sound
Klondike Express Cruise of Prince William Sound includes views of 26 Glaciers. The catamaran was quite large, and it was completely filled; it had the feel of passengers being packed into the boat like sardines in a can. It was quite uncomfortable. Passengers were assigned seats to prevent conflict among passengers over seats. As the cruise got underway, the weather was quite poor, with heavy overcast, fog and drizzle. The temperature was in the low 40s. The day looked very unpromising. From Whittier, the boat headed out through Passage Canal, a deep ice free fjord, and circled around Easter Island. No glaciers were seen in this part of the tour, and the only wildlife was two bald eagles that could be seen in the distance. The first hour of the cruise was very unpromising. The cruise then turned into College Fjord briefly and the glaciers that had been viewed the previous day from the ship were seen again.
Only then did the cruise turn into Barry Arm of Prince William Sound, and then turn into Harriman Fjord, where three large glaciers were seen -- Cascade, Barry, and Coxe Glaciers. As the boat continued up Harriman Fjord, Serpentine, Baker, and Cataract Glaciers were seen, and then the largest glacier of all, Surprise Glacier, a glacier only slightly smaller than Harvard Glacier, seen the previous day in College Fjord. Surprise Glacier is 300 feet high at the face, and half a mile wide. It is a very impressive glacier with much blue ice. The boat parked at the face of the glacier for half an hour for full viewing by the passengers. The sight was truly awe-inspiring. Loud booms could be heard throughout our time there, and at one point a sizeable chunk of the glacier broke away and fell into the water, leaving a large hole in the face of the ice. This glacier was worth the entire price and time of the tour.
On the trip back to Whittier, the boat passed several “herds” of sea lions along the shore. As the boat returned to Whittier, one could see how small Whittier is, and the scene of the ship docked at the pier was very pretty.
The cruise across the Northern Pacific to Asia had begun -- six days at sea before reaching Japan. Clocks were turned back an hour in Whittier, and they would be turned back an hour each day for the following six days.
Klondike Express Cruise of Prince William Sound includes views of 26 Glaciers. The catamaran was quite large, and it was completely filled; it had the feel of passengers being packed into the boat like sardines in a can. It was quite uncomfortable. Passengers were assigned seats to prevent conflict among passengers over seats. As the cruise got underway, the weather was quite poor, with heavy overcast, fog and drizzle. The temperature was in the low 40s. The day looked very unpromising. From Whittier, the boat headed out through Passage Canal, a deep ice free fjord, and circled around Easter Island. No glaciers were seen in this part of the tour, and the only wildlife was two bald eagles that could be seen in the distance. The first hour of the cruise was very unpromising. The cruise then turned into College Fjord briefly and the glaciers that had been viewed the previous day from the ship were seen again.
Only then did the cruise turn into Barry Arm of Prince William Sound, and then turn into Harriman Fjord, where three large glaciers were seen -- Cascade, Barry, and Coxe Glaciers. As the boat continued up Harriman Fjord, Serpentine, Baker, and Cataract Glaciers were seen, and then the largest glacier of all, Surprise Glacier, a glacier only slightly smaller than Harvard Glacier, seen the previous day in College Fjord. Surprise Glacier is 300 feet high at the face, and half a mile wide. It is a very impressive glacier with much blue ice. The boat parked at the face of the glacier for half an hour for full viewing by the passengers. The sight was truly awe-inspiring. Loud booms could be heard throughout our time there, and at one point a sizeable chunk of the glacier broke away and fell into the water, leaving a large hole in the face of the ice. This glacier was worth the entire price and time of the tour.
On the trip back to Whittier, the boat passed several “herds” of sea lions along the shore. As the boat returned to Whittier, one could see how small Whittier is, and the scene of the ship docked at the pier was very pretty.
The cruise across the Northern Pacific to Asia had begun -- six days at sea before reaching Japan. Clocks were turned back an hour in Whittier, and they would be turned back an hour each day for the following six days.
Friday, 09/20/13 College Fjord
Friday, 09/20/13 College
Fjord
College Fjord is located very near Whittier,
Alaska. As the ship sailed into College
Fjord, the ship passed a number of glaciers, all named after colleges --
Barnard, Holyoke, Vassar, etc, until it arrived at Harvard Glacier, the largest of the glaciers in
College Fjord. The previous day ended
with a storm, and all during the night, the ship shook as it passed through the
storm. This morning dawned clear and
sunny, with calm seas, a perfect day for viewing glaciers. The snow-capped mountains shone brightly in
the clear sunshine.
Numerous glaciers flow into
College Fjord, the most famous of which is Harvard Glacier. Of the 10,000 glaciers in Southeast Alaska, only
eight are advancing; all the others are retreating. Harvard glacier is one of the eight advancing
glaciers; it is advancing 6-20 feet per DAY.
Harvard glacier is huge -- over 300 feet tall and more than two miles
across. Harvard Glacier is fed by nine
glaciers, which merge to form Harvard Glacier.
It is the largest and most impressive glacier that we saw on this cruise
-- and the largest glacier I have ever seen.
The captain stopped the ship for half an hour directly at the face of
the glacier. It was a truly awe
inspiring sight. Although only a very
small part of the glacier broke off (calved) while the ship was there, loud
cracks could be heard during our visit.
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