Visa only... No master card.

I forgot to mention a few things on the 3/4/06 log. Bobbi was tired and went to sleep leaving me to go down and type by myself. I always forget stuff when she’s not there to noodgy me, so again , I’m sure you can see, it was all her fault.

We left the dock at about 4:15 PM. We traveled for hours down a river on our way to the sea. Most of the way, the shores were lined with impenetrable jungle, just the way you would think of south Viet Nam. It took about two and one half hours to get out to the ocean. After riding out on the ocean for about half an hour the ship stopped and the captain came on the loud speakers. We were stopped and at anchor awaiting a boat to come and pick up an ill passenger. All this was happening while we were at dinner so we did not have the opportunity to see what kind of boat picked up the sick person or who it was. What a lousy place to have to be taken to a hospital. After about an hour the ill passenger was transferred and we continued on. Seas were very calm.

A few days ago it was announced that they had changed their minds in India and we now needed visas with pictures. Tonight during dinner, naturally, they were taking visa pictures in the atrium. As we were going to the main dining room there was a line of people waiting for these photos to be taken. The line went for over 150 feet and there was no way we were going to stand in a cattle line for the kind of money we were paying. Obviously others felt that way also as the photographers were now going to stay longer. After dinner there was no one waiting and we took our pictures without having to stand in any line.

Not Cattle Sherm Out.

(Posted on behalf of Sherman Rootberg)

Ho Chi Minh City, (Saigon) Vietnam Day 2 of 2

Saigon day two. We got up early again. We had reserved a private van for the day.

Yesterday our hiking shoes were filthy and covered with sand and mud from the national park with the tunnels and the muddy paths. Today they were spotless and looked like new. Our butler, Ian, had cleaned both Bobbi’s and mine. I’m going to miss that. I wonder if I can train our slave to come over and do that? I doubt it. She won’t even wash my cars while I’m gone.

We got a nice new Ford 16 passenger van just for the four of us. It is a model we do not get in the US and is assembled in Vietnam, we were told by our guide. It had very comfortable seats and a raised roof like the custom ones added to vans in the US for disabled people.

First we went downtown to the shopping area by the Rex hotel. This is where the shuttle from the ship would take us. We drove through that area and then Chinatown. Chinatown is the most heavily populated area in the country. We went by the big market and on to a Hindu Temple. It had a large court yard and pens with some small animals, birds and turtles. There were ornate archways to walk under as we walked to the front door of the temple. Inside there were dozens of sticks of incense burning, giving off a lot of smoke, and choking me. Further in there were several large figures or statues. People were chanting and bowing to these figures, or maybe they were almost passing out from all the smoke and stench. Our guide showed us another room or two and we left. I know I will now smell like smoldering cow dung forever.

Next we were taken to a lacquer factory. I think the factory part was a put on to make us think we were getting a bargain. There were many beautiful things there. Tables and chairs, big folding screens, wooden plaques with many different designs, boxes, jewelry boxes with mirrors, and on and on. There was not nearly enough room to create all this stuff even though they had a few people pretending to go about the many steps to create this lacquer ware. The next problem was the prices they wanted for this stuff. Astronomical. I am sure they were lower back home at Bloomies. We accepted the gifts of paper fans they handed us upon entering the place but bought nothing.

Next it was on to the two most exclusive silk shops in town. Now I was in trouble. They had beautiful stuff. I just sat on a chair while Bobbi laid waste to my bank account on three levels of this first store. After loading up on bags full of beautiful stuff I never knew I needed, it was on to silk store number two, next door. This one at least had a big comfortable couch to sit on while I bid my hard earned dollars farewell. Now I had even more bags full of stuff I never knew I needed so badly.

We had driven some pretty far distances and seen many interesting and amazing sights today. Just seeing the thousands of people crowding the streets with bicycles and motor bikes amazes me no mater how many times I see it. It was now past noon and we had enough and decided to return to the ship for lunch. While all our guides were good, this one was the best. His English was the most understandable and his information the best. He really pulled no punches about their commie government.

There is a waiting list for Mercedes Benz cars even though the taxes are 150% on all vehicles. Only the government employees can afford them. School is free for all citizens under their system, not. Public school classes run from 50 to 60 students per class and are four hours per day and six days per week. To get this free schooling you must make donations. The required donations come irregularly and the amounts get higher and higher. It is much better to send children to a private school. Classes are only 30 students and five days per week. Here you know what the cost will be. He too complains of the tremendous amount of corruption in their government and does not believe it will be long before the people will rise up against this government.

I forgot to mention, yesterday, the bus driver got a ticket for going 5 kilometers over the speed limit. That’s about 2 and ½ miles over. There is no judge in the States that wouldn’t through that ticket out. Speedometers and radar equipment is just not that accurate. It was an obvious attempt to collect a bribe. Our guide explained how hard it was to get a job as a police man. The police were all very rich. They drove fancy cars and lived in the best houses.

I really liked seeing this country and would go back to visit again. No way I could ever live here.

Silk Stuff Sherm Out.

(Posted on behalf of Sherman Rootberg)

Ho Chi Minh City, (Saigon) Vietnam Day 1 of 2

Ho Chi Minh City, (Saigon) Vietnam. At about 4:30 AM we started to head for shore. We had been anchored out for the night. It had been mostly smooth. We went inland up a river quite a way. Sometimes it became very narrow. At about 8:00 AM we docked at a very busy spot in the river just before a 90 degree turn to the left. There was constant movement from all kinds of floating traffic. Many noisy, tiny boats with single cylinder engines and no mufflers. Huge barges filled with sand and pulled by tugs. Large ocean going freighters and container ships. Many local boats abut 60 feet long carrying all kinds of freight. All the local boats were ratty looking and appeared like they could sink any minute. These were all the same. They looked like a barge with a square, flat roofed, house built to the rear and had pointed bows. None had any paint. They were just raw rotten looking wood. The river itself was a muddy brown color and all kinds of garbage would float by.

We took a tour that left at about 8:15 AM. It was called the Cu Chi tunnels tour. It was supposed to be about five hours. About sixteen of us got on a 40 passenger bus. It was a long way to the down town area. Traffic was very heavy but almost no cars. There were some trucks and now and then a van or taxi. There were thousands of bicycles and motor bikes. Like every where else since Hong Kong, there would be some times three people or a whole family on these motor bikes. Often you would see a motor bike carrying a load ten times the size of the bike. They would run in and out and around the bus we were in. Why many were not squashed I have no idea. Other then sometimes traffic lights , there seemed to be no rules. Just go or squeeze in wherever you can. The bus paid no attention to them. The bus could go much faster then the motor bikes and would just beep its horn and kind of mow its way through them. It would cut them off and often drive them off the road or into oncoming traffic.

After driving through the down town area and 44 miles into the countryside we came to the Cu Chi zone. This is a huge city. There are eight to ten million people spread over a very large area with almost no high rise buildings. Most still call the city Saigon but the official name is Ho Chi Minh. The latest official word is the whole area is Ho Chi Minh and just the down town area is called Saigon but the locals do not seem to agree. The whole place is pretty dirty with garbage and debris everywhere. We were told land is very expensive and that is why most of the houses were so tiny but often several stories.


The tunnels area is now a national park. There are mud paths leading in many directions. In places there is concrete made of this sandy mud. It is never smoothed but just left in bucket size blobs and usually hard to walk on. Roots and rocks often stick up out of the trails. Obviously there is no insurance in this country.

Before being taken to see the actual tunnels, we were given a brief history and description of the tunnels. As the guide, our guide, called the park ranger, finished his speech, he started to play a 25 minute tape. Our guide told him this would not be a good idea and would just get us mad. It was just 25 minutes of the official line haranguing us about bad the US was.

We walked down paths for a pretty long way to the first of the tunnels. Even though these tunnels had been mostly enlarged for viewing, they were still tiny. The rangers official line was how smart they were to fight a war with no modern weapons to speak of. These tunnels had been started in 1948 and there were 200 kilometers of them on many different levels. They were connected to every house and building in this area. There were different under ground rooms for individuals, health care areas they now call hospitals, meeting room areas for military planning and others. Depending on who was telling the story, there was room for 16,000 or the official count of 60,000 to 80,000 people. They showed us air vents that looked like termite nests. They showed us others with secret entrances and exits. Most of the paths were muddy and wet. There were huge craters from bombs almost every couple of feet. Very few in our group would actually go down into these tunnels even though they now had stairways for the tourist tunnels. Bobbi did start to go down into one but when she got near the bottom of the steps she changed her mind and bolted back up the stairs mowing down all in her way. That learned them suckers to give her plenty of space. I guess she didn’t like it down there.

The ranger was very proud of these tunnels and how smart they were. I like them real well too. What a great idea. Only one problem. About 80% of those who entered them died of various causes. Lack of air, getting lost and never finding their way out, tunnels collapsing, tunnels caving in during bombing, tunnels getting flooded and gassed, and many other reasons.

At the end of their tunnel tour they have an area with booby traps. All kinds of grotesque apparatus for maiming those who should step into one of these booby traps. Of course these traps were kept secret which maimed more of the locals then anyone else. This was all very interesting to see. No one will forget it soon.

Our guide did tell us both the official word of how great things were under the commies and what the truth is. All citizens are equal except politicians and government employees who are more equal. Everyone knows there is huge corruption and all they get is promises and talk while the higher ups live very well. Now that many if not most are getting an education of some kind, they know that through out their history they have gone from one bad regime to another. When they revolt and fight for something better, all they get is dead or injured. It will probably be at least a generation or two before they try again. You almost never see any old people. I read their life expectancy was about 47 years. This guide said it was about 67 for the men and 72 for women. Whatever, over 75% of the population is under 35. 90% of the old people are dead from wars and sickness. Men over 55 do not or cannot work and must be supported by the rest of the family. Those out of work must also be supported. There is no welfare, social security, pensions or health care of any kind provided by the government or businesses. What a great place, not.

Our guide is from this Cu Chi area. He was born and raised here. When asked if the Viet Cong had been supported by the people giving them food and supplies or if it was taken, the answer was, whoever were the activists in your area, that’s who you supported, or else. You had three choices. Don’t listen and you get your house and maybe yourself blown up. Move. Give whatever you had. He goes on to tell a story about his uncle.

Uncle is 55 but still worked driving a small bus. He transports 16 up and back to work daily. One day he is rounding a corner and runs over a land mine. Two people are killed, all injured and he losses an eye and part of an arm. Several days later he gets a visit from a Viet Cong representative. Why did you run over our land mine. You have one week to replace that mine or you will be killed. He had to contact his son who was in the army. The son had to buy a land mine which was very expensive. When he tried to give it to the Cong they told him he had to place it and set it. This was very dangerous for an expert let alone someone who had never seen one before. He had to do it or he too would be killed. Nice folk, huh?

His description of the fighting for a new government only to end up with the same or maybe dead sounds like the same story for most of the world. There are just a very few exceptions. We are sure lucky to be living in the best.

The idiots knocking our country should be forced to live in one of these hell holes for a few years to see how well they like it. Did I mention this entire place from the river to the tunnels smells like garbage too. This whole third world is totally air polluted . This mass majority of humanity is totally ruining the waters and the air with no possible remedy even being considered.

Grossed Out Sherm Out

(Posted on behalf of Sherman Rootberg)

South China Sea

Sea day. Very windy and the Ocean is very rough but it is a trailing wind and sea so it is not very rocky. It is supposed to let up later this evening as we turn west around the land. We are supposed to anchor out tonight and enter the harbor early tomorrow morning. Nothing else exciting to report.

Wind Blown Sherm Out.

(Posted on behalf of Sherman Rootberg)

Chan May, Vietnam

Chan May, Vietnam. That’s where we didn’t go. We were supposed to go there, but it seems that lately we do not go were we are supposed to go more often then we do go where we are supposed to, go. Captain Dog, or is it Dag, decided it was too windy and rough to use that harbor so we went to Da Nang. Instead. It must not be very far away as we still saw the sights we had signed up for. I guess it was closer. However, now they could not go to Hue and the Perfume River. It was a long trip but was supposed to have far more to see.

The sea had been very rough the night before and it was very windy. Maybe 40 miles an hour. It was very cloudy and overcast. The highest the temperature got was about 64 degrees.

Da Nang was a lot of nothing. The large majority of buildings were torn down. Mile after mile of rubble and of course the commie guide would not tell you why.

We went to a museum with artifacts from an ancient civilization, the Cham people, from thousands of years ago. The museum was open air and not in very good shape.

From there we took one passenger bicycle rickshaws about a mile to the Han Market. These Pedi cabs were all lined up in a row waiting for us to climb aboard. It was amazing how they all fought with each other over who would not take me. I couldn’t understand why. I bathe. I brushed my teeth. I am very pretty. None of them spoke much English but I got this really ugly guy who did have a nice tooth, but only just the one. He did have a few words of English. When I complained about being way behind everyone else he uttered, “you big.” Even though it was cold and windy he was sweating a lot.

The Han market wasn’t much either. They tried to drag us through a three or four story store where they were showing us how they made clothes and pictures out of embroidery. Bobbi says they were beautiful. I couldn’t tell you because it was boring me and I took off down the street. They had mostly small stores up and down the street and around a corner and one very large one. They sold look alike watches and many other various kinds of junk. This was not a tourist area. Mostly they sold all kinds of foods and an awful lot of flowers.

Next we got back on the bus and went to China Beach. This had been a Huge US Marine base during the Vietnam war. It had even been a series on TV. Now it was a very up scale resort by Vietnam standards. The beach was very nice with white sand. It was very wavy and cold this day. Thank goodness they also had very nice clean washrooms with separate fully enclosed rooms with almost American toilets. I did not see any urinals. There was even very soft toilet tissue. I made good use of this facility. Later Bobbi told me she had passed by the men’s room and the door was open. She said she clearly saw urinals. I guess I was in the ladies. Close enough. It worked for me.

After an included soft drink or beer and a half hour rest stop we were back on the bus for the ride back to the ship. On the way we stopped at a factory in Marble Mountain Village where they made marble figures. The marble and the work was really very good. They had anything from tiny little turtles to giant one ton lions and almost anything you can think of. Bobbi found a 500 pound elephant she liked. Thank goodness she could not lift a 500 pound elephant. On the way we also stopped at the Marble Mountain to take pictures.

There was not a lot of traffic in this town. What there was, was mostly motor bikes and bicycles. Very few cars and trucks. Our guide spoke mostly not understandable English. She of course told us how wonderful the government was there. They are going to build new houses they are going to give to the poor people. They have billions of dollars that have been donated buy the Vietnamese people for these houses. They take wonderful care of the homeless and war widows. Yeah, right. And if you believe this doo doo I have a bridge I’d like to sell you.

Ladies Room Sherm Out
(Posted on behalf of Sherman Rootberg)

Ha Long Bay, Gong Gai (Hanoi) Vietnam Day 2 of 2

Still in Ha Long Bay, Gong Gai (Hanoi) Vietnam. It is still cloudy today but not foggy. It is also colder. The high was about 60 degrees.

The government changed it’s mind and decided we could not have the dock for the second day. They like to push us around. The people and even the government employees we run into are very friendly but their higher ups have to push their weight around. We had to anchor ten miles up the bay. It turned out to be okay for us though.

We had a 9:00 AM tour on a junk. These were big boats that could hold more then fifty people but they only put about fifteen of us on them. They were fully enclosed with opening glass windows and doors. These were made for tourists and were nicely finished inside. Everything was well varnished and clean. There were booth like tables with padded benches to sit on. The tour was of an area of many of these dragon like formations. Some were large and were inhabited and even had nice beaches. There were many caves. In one area there were people living in houses built on rafts. Much of the construction was with blue plastic covering and all looked like they were ready to fall over. Whole families lived on them and some even with cats and dogs.

Naturally they had people on these junks trying to sell us junk. Being so sales resistant, Bobbi would never buy a thing except many decorated chop sticks, picture post cards, and several strands of pearls. She wanted more kimonos but they only had small ones and they were highly overpriced and were not reversible.

This was a real good junk ride and we saw a lot of interesting stuff. We then met the Kapels for lunch. Muriel was feeling better and had an appointment to revisit the doctor in the afternoon. The ship left for the next port at about 3:00 PM.

We had accepted a dinner invitation from the Hotel manager, Lars. At the time we thought Muriel would still not feel well enough to come for dinner. We had already called and said we were coming and we could not get out of it at this late date. We felt bad about leaving the Kapels.

Dinner was fun and Lars told us of a time when this ship had gone through a Hurricane on last years world cruise. He said the waves were coming up over the seventh floor. Many people were scared enough to wear life preservers. He said he almost put his on. As we were having dinner, we had waves washing over the windows on the fourth floor dining room. It was getting very rough in the Gulf of Tonkin.

We also spoke of the pirate problem. He said they were well equipped with fire hoses and procedures to repel boarders. I mentioned I use to see rooms with many rifles chained down in them on the ships years ago. He said international law changed disallowing them in the 90s. The captain could not even have a hand gun.

Big Wave Sherm Out.

(Posted on behalf of Sherman Rootberg)

Ha Long Bay, Gong Gai (Hanoi) Vietnam Day 1 of 2

Ha Long Bay, Gong Gai (Hanoi) Vietnam. We started the passage to the harbor at about 7:00 AM. It was very foggy/smoggy. It was misting and raining a little also. The fog/smog was so thick you could not see much. There were some weird rock formations as we crept along. The pilot got on at about 8:00 AM. We went very slowly and there were some very narrow channels. We finally docked at about 9:00 AM.

This is not a tourist dock. They are in the middle of expanding it and everything around is mud. All you see is industrial. There are huge coal boats going up and down the bay we are on.

The rock formations are unbelievable. The legends say that a huge herd of dragons came to their aid some time BC. The Chinese were trying to take their lands and the dragons protected them by chasing away the Chinese. They then left symbols of themselves by spitting out jewels and jade as reminders for the Chinese to stay away. These Jewels grew into the huge limestone mountains that populate the area today. The mountains really do look like dragon tails and other parts. They go on for many, many miles.

There was a tour to Hanoi offered but it was 10 ½ hours. About 7 of those hours was a bus ride. No way we could do 7 hours on a bus. They did not get back until 8:00 PM and many were coming in much later.

There was a free shuttle bus into the small town by the pier. After lunch we jumped on a shuttle bus and it did take us there. It was about a 15 minute ride mostly up hill. There is not very much traffic here as there are not many people who can afford vehicles. We passed building after building that said they were hotels. All were open for business and a lady stood in the doorway of all. I have no idea where this much business could possibly come from and if they were really houses of ill repute. There were no office buildings or high rises of any kind. The bus stops at a large real hotel and turns around in it’s parking lot. This hotel offers massages for $12 that some did take advantage of. All said it was very good. Others ate lunch there and were happy with that too. It was cold, rainy, and misty and we just went for the ride up and back.

As we exited the bus we were jumped upon by locals selling many kinds of junk. A lot of it was produce we had no use for. One lady came up to me carrying two huge pails of this produce attached to a rod she wore across her shoulders. I asked Bobbi if she needed an onion. It was a nice onion but Bobbi said no, she didn’t need any onions. They tried to sell us strings of, genuine I’m sure, pearls for $1.00. They attacked Bobbi with so much junk she finally did buy a coolie hat for $2.00. As we were leaving we did bargain for a couple of very nice kimonos. It was raining lightly and the bus was leaving so we did not get a chance to take a good look at them. Once on the bus we opened one and found it to be very nice. We were sorry we did not get more. They had beautiful designs, were reversible with two different colors, large sized and were pure silk. They would make very nice bath robes.

When we got back to the ship they had a stand in the parking lot on the dock. They were selling some there too but they were not the same and were highly over priced.

We met Art for dinner. Muriel was still sick.

Dragon Robe Sherm Out

(Posted on behalf of Sherman Rootberg)

Gulf of Tonkin

At sea through the Highland Straits into the Gulf of Tonkin. We had to get special permission to go through the Highland Straits. It must have been shallow as there were many buoy markers. There were also continuous floats holding fish nets. The waters appeared strange. There was just a slight ripple but every so often you would see an up welling of waters even though we were way too far from land for it to be sewers empting. It was very foggy or maybe it was smog, all day.

Tonight was Lynn’s birthday party. Muriel was still sick and they could not come. Lynn had rented the closed side of the Veranda restaurant and had a table of about 14. We were the only ones in the restaurant. As usual, the food was outstanding and they made a sugar free birthday cake that could not be told from real. The wait staff was great also. We had a good time.

Good Time Sherm Out

(Posted on behalf of Sherman Rootberg)