Jeff Keller's Blog

Asia 2009: Day 11 (Beijing, Part 2)

For day two, we went into the heart of Beijing. It is a beautiful, well-maintained, and very modern city. While the city has its old parts, it has tons of new construction, some of which was Las Vegas style over-the-top.  It’s like they have so much money that they don’t know what to do with it.

Our first stop was Tiananmen Square, which was absolutely packed with people (mostly Chinese).  The line for the Mao Zedong mausoleum was insane.  Next up was the Forbidden City, which was huge. We were pushed through at a fairly quick pace, and I’m told we missed some interesting stuff that was off the beaten track a bit. After lunch we went to the Temple of Heaven. It was funny seeing the main building there, as I remembered it from the China Pavilion at EPCOT.

After all that was done it was time for another long bus ride back to our ship. Chinese immigration officials took forever to clear us, so we left several hours late.

Asia 2009: Day 10 (Beijing, Part 1)

Our ship docked in the city of Xingang, which is one of the busiest ports in China.  For cruise ships, Xingang is the gateway to Beijing, which isn’t ideal — it easily takes three hours each way on the bus to get into town.  Right next door to Xingang is Tianjin, a city of 12 million that is apparently quite nice (we didn’t see much of it from the bus).

On the first day in Beijing, we took a VERY lengthy bus ride to the Great Wall of China, followed by a brief stop at the Ming Tombs.  I’ve wanted to see the Great Wall since I was a kid, and I was not disappointed. Like the Grand Canyon, pictures don’t do the Wall justice.  We went to an area that was supposed to be less busy than nearby Badaling, but it was still fairly crowded. This section of the wall is very steep, and not for the faint of heart (literally and figuratively).  I climbed most of the way up, before turning back for the bus.

The Ming Tombs were disappointing. The buildings were nice and all, but the stuff inside didn’t excite me very much.

On the way home we passed the Olympic Village, so I tried to snap a few photos of that (with mixed success).  I should also mention that the traffic in and around Beijing is worse than everywhere I’ve been — even Los Angeles, I’d say.  I’m surprised we survived 13 hours on the bus without getting into an accident!

Photos from day 1 start here:

Asia 2009: Day 9 (Dalian)

Our first stop in China was Dalian, a city of  6 million people. Dalian isn’t an old city — it was founded in 1899, if I recall.  It has a real mix of architecture, ranging from Russia to European to ultra-modern.  The city was immaculate for the most part, and while there was very little English spoken, the signage was better than expected.

The thing that I came away with the most from my hours in Dalian was the sheer chaos on the roads. Crossing the street is life threatening, as neither pedestrians or cars respect each other. People basically just wade into traffic and hope the oncoming traffic misses them (they certainly don’t stop for you).  A taxi ride is pretty frightening as well — the lines that divide the lanes seem to only be there for decorative purposes.

Anyhow, here are the photos from my hours in Dalian:

Asia 2009: Day 8 (At Sea)

After a day in South Korea, the ms Volendam set sail for China.  Here are just a few photos from the “sea day” between Korea and China.

Asia 2009: Day 7 (Pusan)

Pusan (also known as Busan) is the second largest city in South Korea.  It’s also one of the world’s busiest ports. Today we visited a fish market, a shopping street (which left much to be desired), and Beomeosa Temple.  The city wasn’t terribly exciting, though the never-ending rows of skyscrapers might be a preview of what’s to come in Hong Kong.

Tomorrow is a sea day to prepare for three busy days in China.

Asia 2009 (Day 6): Nagasaki

I didn’t know much about Nagasaki prior to our arrival, other than what happened there on an August morning in 1945. We saw plenty of memorials related to that event, but the city was also quite nice. Decent English signage, helpful people, and beautiful surroundings. Looking at the city from the deck of the ship, it was hard to visualize what it must have looked like almost 65 years ago.

Asia 2009 (Day 5): First 24 hrs on the Volendam

Here are some highlights from the first 24 hours on board the Volendam, as we sailed from Kobe to Nagasaki.

Asia 2009: Day 4 (Kyoto)

We spent the first half of our day touring Kyoto some more, followed by a traditional Japanese lunch (maybe a bit too traditional for my taste). After that we hit the road for Kobe, to board the Volendam.