Monday, March 13, 2023 - Koh Samui, Thailand

 

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March 13 – Koh Samui, Thailand 

We are at Samui Island in Thailand this morning and will be utilizing the local tenders. Two of the tenders are waiting for us as we drop anchor. 

Our optional excursion today is to an elephant sanctuary. These elephants have been identified as abused and have been purchased by the sanctuary so they can have a safe place to live out their lives. These are Asian Elephants. They have smaller ears than African Elephants as it is hotter in Africa than in Asia. The facility raises a crop of grass that can be harvested to provide feed for the elephants. They also purchase fruit and vegetables from local farmers to supplement the elephant’s diet. The elephants are particularly fond of bananas.

Examples of what the elephants are fed.

Baskets are filled with feed for the elephants.

 

 

 

The facility also uses organic methods for processing the elephant waste. There was absolutely no odor. The observation walkways are well above the elephants, but allow visitors to feed them. Each visitor is given a basket that has the elephant grass in bundles in it as well as some fruit. It was quite humorous to watch the elephants. A visitor would give the elephant a bundle of grass and they’d take it and throw it over their backs. They will eat it, but they know there is fruit in the basket, too and they much prefer the fruit. The fruit they take and it immediately goes into their mouth.

View of the elevated walkways.

Oh good, the visitors are here. We are going to get fed.

Mmmm banana!

Grass - nope. I'll save it for later. (See back of elephant) Banana please.

Time for a nice drink of water.

 

The elephants also drink a great deal of water. We watched as an elephant picked up a hose that was running and put it in it’s mouth so the water could go straight down it’s throat. While another one standing there tried to get the hose away from the first one. 

After spending some time with the elephants, the facility served a buffet lunch. 

Before returning to the ship, we stopped at a view point for a popular waterfall.

 

Saturday, March 18, 2023 - Koala Lumpur

 

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Saturday, March 18 – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 

Before reaching our port, we traveled along an area that was a container port. We couldn't count the number of ships being loaded.

Our tour today took us to a somewhat remote village to visit with a group of aboriginals. There are a number of aboriginal tribes in Malaysia with a wide variance in cultures. We visited with the Mah Meri. They have their own lifestyle that goes back many generations. The government has recognized the importance of retaining these tribes along with their heritage. They have been given land and protections. 

On the way to the village we passed through acre after acre after acre of palm orchards. These palms are palm oil palms. Malaysia is one of the world's largest producers of palm oil. 

The Mah Meri survive through their crafts of wood carving and basketry. We were greeted with woven crowns and a drink of lime juice. There is one person from the outside that lives with the Mah Meri and acts as interpreter for them. He introduced us to their history and lifestyle. We were then given a brief demonstration of a traditional dance with the male dancers wearing masks. The age of the male dancers ranged from a mature adult to probably an 8 year old. All the females we saw had elaborate headpieces woven out of a local grass. 

After the introduction, we were welcomed into the village itself and could observe the wood working, and the young girls helped any in the group that wished it to weave a simple example of their craft. I use the word woven, but it is more of a cross between weaving and braiding. Very impressive. 

They have a small museum that we toured, then they conducted a wedding ceremony in the traditional way. The wedding party consisted of our fellow guests. These types of ceremonies are an extremely important part of their culture. After the wedding, we were served a very nice buffet lunch. 

I think the tour could have been even more enjoyable had we had a guide on the bus that communicate better in English. Our guide was very difficult to understand and she was unable to answer even basic questions.

 

Thursday, March 16, Singapore, Singapore

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Thursday, March 16 – Singapore 

Our tour today is “Iconic Singapore”. It is only 4 hours after yesterday’s 6-hour tour and 3 miles. There are several aspects of today that we are really looking forward to. 

Immigration this morning turned out to be quite easy. We were expecting what we experienced yesterday. Today, there are not quite so many people and once we were in line, one of the workers asked if we had used our thumbprints the day before? Yes, we had. Great! You get to go over to this line (that had almost no one in it). We put our thumbs on the scanner, took off hats, they scanned faces and passport, and we were done! Evidently, not everyone had the thumbprints taken, so they had to do the longer version. We had left the ship planning on the long version, so we were 40 minutes early for our tour. A very curt staff member told us to “come back at 9:00”. We found a little food vendor with tables and stools so camped out there with several others of our World Cruise comrades. We bought a beverage that turned out to be lychee fruit in the bottom of a glass with water. We both really enjoyed it! Very refreshing. Very sweet. 

We gathered with our group for the tour. The guide was a bit late, but then the bus wasn’t there either. Finally, it was time to leave. We’ll start the tour with a ride in a river boat down the Singapore River into the reservoir. Singapore has numerous reservoirs for drinking water. This one is just steps from the ocean and they have been able to dam it to keep it pure. It is not a recreational lake, but these river boats to tour it and the river. The boats are electric. We sailed past the “Merlion” statue that is the symbol of Singapore. An early settlor claimed to have seen a lion here. (They might have seen a tiger, but no lions). The lion has been married to/combined with a sea creature, therefore “Mer lion”. Note the fountain.

CBD

Central
Business
District

Shop house that are now restaurants in the CBD

Fullerton Hotel is huge and old

Jumping Children statue.

Reservoir and Merlion fountain

More Merlion

Mer lion

Crowds enjoying the Merlion with the CBD in the background

More of the CBD. More banks than you can count

 A panorama of the CBD from across the reservoir

We ended our boat ride at the dock for Marina Bay Sands Complex. This is a huge complex with a major shopping center (high level brands), a Casino (the Sands from Los Vegas), a high-end hotel that can house up to 5,000 people in the three towers, and an observation deck on the 56^th floor. We were going to the 56^th floor. What an amazing view. All of Singapore laid out below you and looking out over the waters south of Singapore. Ships as far as you can see. Hundreds of them. We are also looking down on our next stop. “Gardens by the Bay”.

From the top looking out over Singapore

The Flower Dome and the ships in the harbor

Ships in the harbor as far as you can see - hundreds

More of Singapore stretching out into the distance.

Gardens by the Bay

Super Trees at Gardens by the Bay

More of the Trees and other plantings.

 

A huge complex of gardens and greenhouses and the iconic “super trees”. From above it was beautiful, from the ground, they were amazing. We are touring the “Flower Dome”, the largest greenhouse in the world that has no columns. Beautiful, amazing, and many other adjectives. The facility is only about 10 years old and is wonderful, I can’t imagine what it will look like in another 10. The Flower Dome is divided into themes. 

Succulents include baobab trees that they have brought from Africa and are doing well. Palm trees that I’ve never seen so well-manicured. Much much more. Throughout, they have placed wonderful pieces of sculpture. Much of it out of drift wood but with an almost whimsical approach. The facility is also definitely geared towards amusing children.

One of the Super Trees. The plants are growing up the trunk,

People walking up to it give you a bit of perspective on just how large these "trees" are.

Detail of some of the plants growing on this "tree".

In the greenhouse - Flower Dome and the succulent area.

A piece of sculpture - all out of driftwood. Probably 5 feet high.

More whimsy - a snake and a sloth.

A baobab. Very happy here.

Well groomed palm tree.

This eagle was amazing.

Who?

 In the background you see Marina Bay Sands. Just a little whie ago, I took pictures from there to where I am now shooting from.

What a great day! Possibly one of the better ones we’ve had, yet every port is different, and all offer amazing things. It is a little bit of comparing apples and oranges. This was just probably one of the better ones.

Just interesting apartments we could see from the ship.