Inchon, South Korea

March 23rd and we are docked in Inchon, South Korea which is the port for Seoul.  This time our tour takes us into Seoul.

Because you must go through a canal in order to get to the port itself, we were late getting in.  This makes it a mess as the tours all go out at the same time.  And Korea inspects all your hand luggage and bags.  So it is a slow process.

I found out the canal is in place in order to keep the port free from tidal changes.

We gathered for our tour and sat with Millie while waiting for our tour to be called.  I tour was "Seoul Highlights and Traditional Korean Lunch".  The drive to Seoul takes about one hour.  Our first stop was to Gyeongbokgung.  This is a palace revered as possibly the greatest in all of South Korea.  It was constructed in 1395 by the Joseon Dynasty and later restored in 1867.  It is the largest of the Five Grand Palaces that the dynasty built.  The name translates to "Palace of Shining Happiness".  Included on the grounds are numerous pavilions, gardens, ponds, bridges and courts covering over 419,000 meters (about 100 acres).

Inside the grounds is this ceremonial drum.  Lots of bright colors.

This is the inside of the front gate.  We passed through this gate to watch the changing of the guards.

The palace is located in the center of Seoul.  But from this picture, it looks like it is in the country.

Just another view of the palace.

We got to watch the changing of the guard.

Before they change, you area allowed to have your picture taken with the guard.  They are not the happiest persons on the earth.  But Miie took our picture with the one guard.

They do not look happy.  But it is a job.

At the front gate, they change the guards about once an hour.  We all had to stand back.

And the guards that were taking their place came out and then they were inspected by the head guard.

I think this is the head guard.  Not a happy guy.  But he does his job.

The head guard from each shift bow to each other.  A nice ceremony.

And do you like the feathers on their hats.

Inside the palace this is the view down the sides of the palace.

We then walked over to the National Folk Museum of Korea.  It contains lots of artifacts focusing on Korean life from prehistoric time to the end of the Joseon Dynasty in 1910.

Outside the museum they have the signs of the zodiac.  Aiden is the year of the Monkey.

 And Pop Pop and Mon Mom are the year of the sheep.

And this is just some more of the palace area.

While we were walking around the grounds, we lost one man.  So our guide went back with his wife and left the rest of us on our own.  But they finally found the man and met up with the rest of us.

Next we drove to the place where we had lunch.  They kept bringing dishes for us to try.  I enjoyed what I did eat but did not try some of the dishes as they were uncooked fish or too spicy.

This is where we ate lunch.

And at the end of the lunch, this is the leftover.

As we waited for our bus, we realized we were right next to the American Embassy.  The American Flag was flying but when we took the picture, it was just hanging there.  And it is guarded on the outside by Korean Police.

Next we stopped at Insadong Antique Street which was a shopping stop.  And the final stop was to the Cheonghyecheon Stream which I elected to skip.  Then the hour drive back to the ship.

While we were walking around the Palace, we met a couple from Jacksonville and Amelia Island.  And another couple seem to know people who live in Plantation but I did not know them.

Sea Day - En Route to Inchon, South Korea

March 22nd and we are sailing toward Inchon, South Korea once again.  Lots going on this day.  We had breakfast in La Veranda where I had Cheerio's and strawberries.  Trying hard to eat sensible and not gain weigh.

Went to the Coffee Connection where we sat with Myra and Ray and worked on a crossword puzzle.  Myra has been on the ship since December and Ray is the cruise director.  A funny duo.

Had a needlepoint session this morning.  Lots of new ladies and one man.  Marilyn and I are the only ones doing needlepoint that have been on this cruise.  So we stayed later and just enjoyed talking with her friend, Jim.  He is from NJ and was on the same cruise as they did last year.

We had lunch in Compass Rose.  This is a wonderful place for lunch.  I had soup and then a BLT sandwich.  But I did enjoy potato chips.  And a glass of wine.

Then the nap and back to needlepoint  in the afternoon.  I stayed for tea and then headed up to the pool to do about 35 minutes in the pool.  The water is heated but not hot enough.  So I did not want to stay in the water any longer.

Dressed for dinner and headed to the Horizon Lounge for our cocktail.  Rode down in the elevator with a couple who just got on board.  We had a nice table for two which turned out to be next to that same couple so when they were having their tea, they asked if they could join us.  We agreed and found out they are staying on until June 2nd.  They are from north of Brisbane, Australia.  Ira and Di.  Nice people.  There are a lot of folks who got on yesterday that are staying until London.  They had a reception for them in the morning.  A nice touch - too bad they did not include those of us already on board.

Back to the suite where I got on line and was able to face time with Katie, Aiden and Gretchen.  David had gone to Bonita Springs to surprise his mom for her birthday along with TJ and Mark.

Then bed and sleep.

Tianjin, China - Updated

So it is the 20th of March.  We are scheduled to arrive in Tiajin at 10 am.  But we are delayed due to traffic.  So we cancelled our tour which was to be an 8 hour tour to the wall.  We have been to the wall before so we decided not to ride on the bus for over 2 hours.

So today became a day at sea.  We stayed on the ship and worked on the blog and Bob worked on the pictures.

We had dinner with Alden, Doll, Al and Betty.  These are our neighbors from the back of the ship.  So this is a tiny entry to the blog.

We are following the hunt for the aircraft on the news.  Quite a mystery!!!

Tomorrow starts the next segment of this adventure.

The 21st of March is really the disembarkation embarkation day.  There are about 40 people continuing on the next segment.  We opted not to do the shore excursion as it was an early departure.

We did get to swim in the morning.  The water is heated but they turn it off during the night so that the water that was warm, turns cool or cold.  So when they open the pool in the morning, they then turn the heater back on.  So at 11 am the water on top was fairly warm but the water at the bottom was rather cold.  We tried our best to mix it up.

Lunch in Compass Rose where there were about 14 people.  Quiet and nice.

Then a nap and then we have the muster drill.

We will be having dinner with Bob and Marilyn in Prime 7.  And tomorrow is another sea day on our way back to South Korea.

Dalian, China

Wednesday March 19th and we are sailing toward Dalian, China.  Due to arrive around noon.  So the morning was like many others.  No needlepoint today as they are giving out the rewards to those passengers who have collected enough point for redemption.  You can play games and win points and then get a t-shirt, hat, etc.  I do not play the games so we so not have any points.  Last segment Jim got Bob a t-shirt because he and Anne Louise have tons of points.

Dalian, China is a coastal city with a population of around 8 million people.  It is a fairly new city.

After the Opium War in 1840, Dalian was plunged into warfare.  At the end of the 1800's, Japanese and Russian invaders successively set their feet on the Chinese mainland here.  In 1894, Japan invaded the Peninsular and in 1897 Russian troops occupied Lushun Port and imposed upon the Qing government an unfair contract, in which they ceded Lushun as a colony to Russia.  Seven years later, Lushun was again transferred to Japanese rule, when the Russians lost in the Japanese-Russian War.  From then on Dalian suffered from the colonial rule of Russia and Japan for decided.  It was as recently as 1955 that the Chinese government took over sovereignty of Lushun and the hardest times of the city's history ended.

The impression Dalian gives to the world is of a city of lawns, squares, fountains and gardens.  This is all thanks to the former mayor of the city, Bo Xilai, who initiated a "Green Storm" - a widespread environmental campaign which brought numerous green squares, forests, parks, and seaside scenic spots to the city.  People say it is "A City Built in Gardens".

Our tour today is "Dalian With Less Walking".

While we were sitting on our balcony, we watched these police stand guard.  They stood there all day.

This is a view of the dock area.  Lots of building going on in this city.

Our first stop was at Green Hill Platform for an overview of the city.

More building going on.

More views of the city.

The next stop was at People's Square.  This is a large open space where the local folks come and fly kites.  This lady was selling the kites to anyone.  Lots of the Chinese people wear masks due to the pollution in the cities.  But this day the sun was shining and there was a wind which kept the air fairly clear.

I really liked this kite.

Lots of neat kites being flown.

And this kite had the longest tail.  It was cool to watch fly.

And across the street from the square is a government building.

Next we went to Xinghai Square.  This is in a very expensive area of the city.  And it is loaded with these sculptors.

And these are some of the apartment buildings in the area.

Thought I would have my picture drawn by this lady.

These are the two Jane's.  Jane in white coat is from Palm Coast and Jayne in purple is from Palm Beach Garden.  They are my needlepoint friends.  Great ladies.  We hope to get together at the outlets.

This is a view of the square.  Lots of statues.

We thought this looked a lot like Aiden on his skate board.

The nest stop was at the Beida Bridge.  This is the honeymoon bridge.  You are to walk across the bridge with you sweetheart.  But those who know me, know I do not like bridges.  So Bob walked across by himself.

The view from the bridge.

And this windmill which I do not think works anymore.

The coast line of the area.

The final stop was at Tiger Park.  There are six tigers in this sculpture but we could only see 5.

And more buildings being built.

We returned to the ship and got ready for dinner.  We were meeting Joan and David for dinner tonight. They are from the Cook Islands and a delightful couple.  The got on in Aukland and are getting off in Beijing.  It is interesting that the longer we stay on board, the more folks we meet and want to have dinner with.  We had a great dinner in Compass Rose and then back to the suite and bed.

Inchon, South Korea

Tuesday March 18th and we are heading to Inchon.  In order to enter the port you must first go through a canal.  We think this is a security issue.  At any rate, we arrived a bit later than expected as it was very foggy in the morning and the pilot did not want us to enter the canal in that weather.  Somehow our Captain was able to talk the pilot into letting us go so in we went.  But we arrived late.  We were to gather for our tour at 7:30am but they were not ready for us until 9.  So we sat and waited for them to let us exchange our tour tickets for a bus number.  And we also had to take our passports with us.  Our tour today "DMZ and the 3rd Tunnel".  South Korea has found 4 tunnels that the North Korean's have been building to try and attack Seoul.  South Korea is not sure if there are more tunnels or not.

During the Korean War, Inchon was the site of the Battle of Inchon, when United States troops landed to relieve pressure on the Pusan Perimeter and to launch a United Nations offensive northward.  The city was also the site of a Japanese POW camp during WWII.

This is the canal we went in to get to the actual port.  They have two canals side by side.

As we drove out to the DMZ, all along the river are these guard huts.  And the river is surrounded by barbed wire.  You might be able to see the barbed wire at the bottom of the picture.  This was taken while riding on the bus.

You arrive at the park where your guide gets the tickets to enter the tunnel area.

At the park there is this monument.  I did not see this myself as I was waiting for Bob to come out of the rest room and I guess he passed me and I did not see him.  So I stood by the bus while he went ahead and took some pictures.

The people of South Korea still pray for peace.  It seems North Korea does not feel the same way.

This is known as Freedom Bridge.

This is the entrance to the tunnel area.  An armed guard came on the bus and checked all of our passports.  We were then allowed to enter the tunnel area.

Another view of the checkpoint.

In order to get into the tunnel, you can walk down or ride on the monorail.  The monorail riders wore blue hard hats.  And it is a good thing because as you walk in the tunnel, you need to bend over and all along you hear the heads being bumped on the ceiling.  I did walk about two thirds of the way but my back hurt from bending over so I returned to the monorail station to wait for the others.  If you walked down, you wore a yellow hard hat.

I wanted to get a picture of the two of us but Bob was busy taking pictures of other couples for them.  So I just went ahead and took Bob's picture.

This is Jim and Anne Louise.  They are from Henderson, NV and were on our Circle South America cruise although neither of us remember the other.

Outside the tunnel is this statue symbolizing the reuniting of the country.  Not sure that will ever happen.

When we got to the DMZ itself, this is the guard house.  You can take pictures but only from behind the yellow line.  Which means you cannot see anything.  And it was overcast so we have no good pictures to share with you.  And you could not take pictures in the tunnel.  You had to put you cameras and cell phones in lockers.

Back at the port, as we sailed away, we spotted these cars being ready to sent to USA.  We think they are Kia's.  But as far as you could see, cars, cars, and more cars.

They drive them onto this huge car carrier for transport.

And the we entered the canal and set sail for China.

We were meeting Bob and Marilyn for dinner with Jim and Anne Louise.  Ann Louise and Jim are getting off in Beijing.  So a good bye dinner at Prime 7 with them.  Bob and Marilyn tried to change it to a table for 8 at the last minute but could not.  So they left early to go to the show, which we have seen several times, and meet up with the other couple.   So that left the four of us at the table and we had a nice talk.

Then back to the suite and bed.  A good day.