Canoe tour guides giving us instructions and where we are travelling in this big old tug.

Here are a few pics of the old boat, Here is a pair of old deisel engines that have been running for 20 years. Wide open and noisey. The canoes are all loaded and the staff are describing our destination for the day.

Canoeing in side the cliffs lagooon area

Once inside these caves is become very dark and quite smelly. You aim your flashlight to the ceiling and yes, 100's of Bats hanging from the rock above. Once you have cleared the cave area and make it out into the lagoon area there are wild monkeys feeding on the natural trees and getting fish from the sea below.

Entering the Limestine caves in Canoes

This area of Thailand is called the "Pearl of Thailand" regularly voted one of the world's top holiday destinations. It lies just off the southwest coast, surrounded by the warm waters of the Andaman Sea. Phuket is the country's largest island some 30 miles long and 10 miles wide, and home to 30,000 people. At the north end of the island there is a road bridge that carries traffic across the narrow strait that separates it from the mainland.
The Island is rich in tin deposits. Tin was the major source of wealth until 1980's but now tourism and the production of rubber, from trees planted at the beginning of the 20th century are the mainstays. Rubber plantations everywhere, their little black cups hanging from the bottom of the trees. Just like back home collecting syrup from our maple trees in spring.

Arrival for the trip out to the Limestone Cliffs

This was our starting point for the day trip up to the limestone towers and spires in Phang Nga Bay. These towers starred in the James Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun. Theirfame made them first choice of the day trippers from Phuket. Some rise sheer out of the sea, others have low lying land, beaches and villages. A narrow boat takes you past island honeycombed with caves through tunnels hollowed out by the tides. The more intrepid can take an escorted canoe trip to discover hidden lagoons, inaccessible by any other means. The first two pics will show us boarding the boat about 10 am with high Tide, and the next pic is returning from the day tour at about 4 pm. Now that is a big tide. It was also a full moon night which meant the tide is the highest. So getting in the caves depends what time you arrive at the caves. The tour boats have a complete staff to paddle your canoe with flash light strapped to there heads like the old coalminers, and they serve you lunch traveling back. The side view of the tour boat has a banner with its web site. www.seacavecanoe.com so you can check it out.

Security Check on arrival at each Port.

On every arrival at a port on the world cruise before anyone is allowed off the ship the crew do a complete search under the motor coaches and taxis waiting to take us out for the day, This big banner was attached to both sides of the ship when we left Hong Kong, along with the installation of the Blasters.

Prior to sailing from Singapore

The ship invited the local native chinese dancers to perform around the pool before sailing off to Thailand. The Champagne flowed as we watched this young amazing group entertain.

Building in this fine city of Singapore.

This bridge was built in Scotland in the 30's in sections and shipped here by this fine city. The next building was built as a grand residence in early times, and then converted to a school. As the school grew, it became too small, so the owners of the residence donated it to the city, and now it is the Paranakan Museum. The next pic is the 3 hotels under construction. Just the roof top garden is left to be completed. There are many palm trees on the roof top already. The last is the Singapore Hyatt Hotel. Very modern inside.

Singapore's Statue's and Street Scapes

These pics are of various items in and around this fine city. This is a flower used for a round-about in the area of the cruise terminal. At night it lights up to a wonderful bouquet of flowers. The next is a closed street in China town with columns up the middle of the road with the old buildings of the street completey covered as a pedestrian mall. Very modern, with the old buildings intact. Great idea! The rest are of statues in and around the Paranakan Museum area.

Chinatown

Go figure, there was way more to do and see in Chinatown!! This area was where the street tailors started the custom made suit's on the streets of Singapore. Get a suit in 2 days. Well now you can get a custom made suit in 6 hours. I visited a family's home that is preserved from the early days of the 50 & 60's where the front of the store was the shop, and the rear was a row of sewing machines, ready to serve the buying public, and further back was the residence where they cooked and slept. Very primitive with those same old hard beds.

Singapore's Little India

Well forget Singapore's little India, just go to Brampton! This city was smart to clump the different cultures in different areas. They were all fighting with each other back in the earlier times, so the powers to be, decided they should keep their traditions, but not have to live together. So they have little India, China town etc.

Some of the new buildings in Singapore

As you can see this a very modern city. The building with 3 towers and the roof joined together is 3 hotels being built next to a new convention centre. The roof has a complete garden area with palm street bars and restaurants. It will be open in April. Orginally it was only three towers but to make it look more the South-East Asian style they joined them up. Very different.

Arriving in Singapore

This is were East meets West. Between the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea, at just 1 degree of latidude north of the equator, Singapore basks in a high year-round temperatures and an impressive prosperity. The Island covers an area of about 245 sq miles a figure that grows year by year as new land is won from the sea. No conservation authority! This is a very busy place with almost 5 million people living in this small place. Everything has to be imported in, even the water. But that has not stopped them from being the place to call home.