FUN-photos: 2016 Crystal Cruise – Bali to Singapore
March 31, 2016 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on FUN-photos: 2016 Crystal Cruise – Bali to Singapore
Slow Boat to Singapore – Indonesia & Malaysia
- The last segment took us from Bali to Singapore with another 6 ports of call and 4 days at sea.
- And we had a lot of firsts on this one!
- Borobudur – the single largest Buddhist structure anywhere on earth. Lovingly restored after 14 painstaking years is one of the world’s truly great ancient monuments.
- Kuala Lumpur – Petronas Towers (and KL’s claim to fame) are the “Big Boys” and the official titleholder of the World’s Tallest Twin Towers.
- Penang – a temple here, a temple there, a temple everywhere! And the only Burmese Buddhist temple outside Myanmar.
- Langkawi – Bikinis and Burkas dotted the Beaches.
- Singapore – The Most Expensive Beer on Earth! In the Long Bar at Raffles Hotel and where the Singapore Sling was invented and just celebrated its 100th birthday.
FUN-photos: 2016 Crystal Cruise – Sydney to Bali
March 31, 2016 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on FUN-photos: 2016 Crystal Cruise – Sydney to Bali
Slow Boat to Singapore – Australia & Indonesia
- The second segment took us from Sydney to Bali with 6 ports of call and only 5 days at sea.
- We never made it to Thursday Island as the sea was too rough and choppy for the tenders to take us ashore. Oh well, Champagne for lunch and a nap instead!
- While it was very cool to go to Komodo and get to see the dragons, the whole thing felt very staged. More like going to a zoo without the fencing.
- And then Balmy Bali…in Monsoon Season. This lovely island with a population of over 4 million is one of the smallest in Indonesia covering an area of 2000 square miles. And with the majority of them practicing Balinese Hinduism there were temples on almost every corner and tucked away down side streets. Every 210 days is 6 months on a Balinese calendar and encompasses a big celebration filled with food, music and dancing. It turns out that we were in for a real royal treat too! Incense filled the air as they prepared a multitude of delicacies for their evening’s feast and festivities.
FUN-photos: 2016 Crystal Cruise – San Francisco to Sydney
March 31, 2016 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on FUN-photos: 2016 Crystal Cruise – San Francisco to Sydney
Slow Boat to Singapore – South Pacific
- We started with a nice, short flight to San Francisco (and no jet lag) before we boarded the Crystal Serenity for our cruise. While this was the beginning of their World Cruise we opted to just do half of it. And as it turned out was very smart on our part!
- This first segment lasted 22 days ending in Sydney. We had 9 ports of call across the South Pacific with 13 days at sea.
- We celebrated Valentine’s Day and the 13th anniversary of Susan’s 49th birthday. Once again she had a surprise birthday party on board. She didn’t know any of her 8 guests before we got on the ship, so it was a real surprise! And no surprise that we’ll see some of them again.
If you click on the first picture it will allow you to create a slide show.
FUN-photos: Rafting Middle Fork of the Salmon River, Idaho
August 28, 2015 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on FUN-photos: Rafting Middle Fork of the Salmon River, Idaho
- This was the whole reason for taking our 2nd road trip in 2015. Our friend and sailing buddy “Terrible Ted from Tucson” told us we had to make put this on our bucket list.Ted died of pancreatic cancer in 2013 and so we toasted and thanked him for his insisting we do this.
- We chose Sobek Mountain Travel for our rafting adventure because everything was “first class” and taken care of, so we could just sit back and enjoy the ride. And that we did!
- The Middle Fork is a 104-mile free-flowing river that moves through a variety of climates and land types; from alpine forest to high mountain desert to sheer, rock-walled canyon, the third deepest in North America.
- It ranks #3 on National Geographic’s list of the Top 10 Rafting Rivers in the World. It flows through America’s largest roadless wilderness area outside Alaska. Only a few trails, landing strips, private ranches, and Forest Service stations are evidence of man’s intrusion.
FUN-photos: 2nd 2015 Road Trip – Zion & Bryce, Utah
August 25, 2015 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on FUN-photos: 2nd 2015 Road Trip – Zion & Bryce, Utah
On making our way to Idaho for a week of rafting on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River we spent a good part of a day exploring both the North and South entrances of Zion National Park. Then we headed to Bryce where we spent the night and the following morning drove the scenic 18-mile drive, stopping at all 14 of the viewpoints.
We then continued on to Twin Falls, Idaho to find my mothers family farms and got to see Shoshone Falls. The last stop before arriving in Stanley was the Craters of the Moon National Park, which was a clear disappointment! It’s basically a bunch of lava all over the place. It was a whole lot more interesting seeing it in Iceland last year.
