I love aircraft and long-haul flights. We board award-winning Singapore Airlines, with approximately 30 hours to go. With 8 magazines, 6 movies, 4 meals and a sleeping pill, I am relaxed and ready to explore. U.S. airports are still not friendly people. ultra-modern airport in Singapore is ideal for the free internet terminals, a cinema, a rooftop swimming pool, aromatherapy baths, oxygen bars, natural garden pool with waterfall and Koi Pond to stay.
I accompanied mybut the smallest group with 28 single rooms. About 60 had asked me to offer these destinations, but most of the claims in the last minute saved the fear of avian influenza. It's like a party for me with such quality over quantity of wake-culture enthusiasts.
We start with an orientation trip to the summit of the mountain. Farber, with spectacular views. I see the group with this glittering metropolis between Malaysia and Indonesia is hit. Here the leader of SE Asia, a bustling port, which wasThe modernization of the British Empire. It's called the "Lion City" and inhabited by four million souls. 76% of Chinese and other minorities in harmony. Singapore is a city, state, capital and land, all in one, attracting eight million visitors a year, but few Americans have yet to discover.
We control the opulent Four Seasons Hotel Regent. I am given a suite and I swear he won the prize for the friendly staff of the planet. We have been a perfect time hourswith the "Grand Shopping Festival" on. There's nothing like a shopping trip to our jet lag to calm her. Orchard Road, a tree-lined Fifth Avenue is one block away and in the midst of life. Shopping is the national obsession and bargain hunting can become a blood sport here.
There are 150 mega-malls with some never close. I am a slave and the label to buy a Rolex authentic documents used for a fraction of its original cost. We only have four days here. So much to do24 / 7, like its Hong Kong on steroids. The Arts Festival has a variety of places. After dark there in the party city-trendy Clarke Quay area bounded by the River.
We have a wise and friendly guide named Farida, who shows us all the attractions with a great sense of humor. We visit the lush National Orchard Garden with 60,000 orchids, China Town with its markets and temples, and Little India, with its intense flavors and colors. Then onultra-modern business district, Merlion Park with fountains and emblem of the historic colonial, which was founded by Sir Stanford Raffles.
We have a Singapore Sling in the famous Long Bar at Raffles Hotel, where rooms start at $ 700 per night sip. Other tours included Jurong Bird Park and Night Safari Zoo, free to be the best in the world with 2,500 animals roaming their cages. During leisure, rickshaw drive around the city and the cable carSentosa Island.
Some of us decide to go to the zoo for a Jungle Breakfast with Orangutans heads. In the evening dinner Terry & The pound jumbo crab cakes and rice. This was vibrant island of Singapore is bright, with purple bougainvillea bushes for cleaning along the highways. All cars are equipped with alarm systems, to see if you exceed the speed. No graffiti, no gangs, and in this tight "managed democracy" is the death penalty for drug traffickers. We all make jokes aboutFirst steps for chewing gum or Jay-Walking punished.
His is a pleasant visit here. I usually feel like Jack Bauer in the TV series 24 on my trips with non-stop routes. I feel rested, I like our three-hour flight to Vietnam on board.
We come to another world with rice paddies, sampans, lotus blossoms, coconut milk and pasta soups. And 'Time Machine as a journey back to 15th century in this fascinating country with a long history. And 'much poorer than I expected. ThisHowever, a seductive charm, the elegance of these people is found with a sincere smile. I'm a fan of the Third World. While Singapore has been dynamic, culturally stimulating Hanoi. The city is dotted with lakes and shaded by tamarind. There is a dichotomy that is teeming with energy and who is still quiet at the same time.
Occur in the luxury Sheraton Resort, an oasis of calm amidst the chaos. Our guide keeps the name Hong is with us for 6 glorious days.His first lesson was teaching us how to cross the street. The traffic is horrendous seven tracks, with 2.4 million scooters. "It's called the game of chicken. Hong said." It 'does not stop running not far, but slowly, so you can predict the direction of the driver. "This afternoon I stopped by fear 20 minutes as pavement goes against all instincts of this lesson. There are whole families on a single scooter, the "Vietnamese sandwich." Everything is carried on these mopeds, 8Piglet, a dozen chickens upside down, a television, a tree and more. The pollution is bad. The center seems tired and listless. Suddenly there is a monsoon rain. People draped ponchos and rain coat in the city. Escape as quickly as it began, and life goes on.
The sun was shining on our day trips Chi Minh City, including the Temple of Literature, One Pillar Pagoda, the French Quarter and the monument to Ho We lined with hundreds of people entering the tomb, where hiskept visible body built like Lennon in Moscow. Communist armed soldiers under the command of our silent worship, without cameras, umbrellas, sunglasses and arms to our sides. The Hoa Prison Later visit or oven. Built by the French in 1896, thousands of political prisoners were tortured between now and 1954. We see the dungeon with shackles, torture and equipment, cutting equipment mache. In 1960, the Viet Cong used them as a prisoner of war detention centerAmerican pilots shot down during the Vietnam War. It 'caught our pilots that this body spitefully called "Hanoi Hilton". We also do a walk through the old quarter, where every street is named for its ancient handicraft: Silk Street, St. Coffin, grilled fish, etc. Hong St. leads us to a food market with turtles, snails, pigs' heads and other unspeakable creatures for sale. Thit is fed dog chow, the food here as farmers. rat country is solemnlyserved on all birthdays.
Most of our dishes include sumptuous buffet breakfast lunch and 10 in principle. Each restaurant is accessible. One evening my dinner by jellyfish salad, fried eel, rice, ginger and sticky grilled roast pigeon race. It seems that the Vietnamese eat everything that moves, because "it tastes like chicken."
Visit the Water Puppet Show, an ancient art form unique only to Hanoi. This mix of music and dance in waterwas the source of entertainment for villagers long ago. We then spread to the city to explore the oldest capital cities in Asia. Some go for massages and pedicures at prices you can not resist. Some souvenir shops, while others clothes tailored for them. I have a silk embroidered dress, my body cut in four hours for $ 45. We also visited the craft villages on bargain hunting art, ceramics and lacquers. Money is a big challenge for us as equivalent to 65 cents $ 10.500 Dong. Usfelt like millionaires, but it was disheartening to learn that the annual per capita income of only $ 320! We all tip generously.
Vietnam is the pulse lies in its cities during its decent to find grace in their villages. We head out across the countryside for a day cruise on Halong Bay. The air is fresh, as we have rice fields, duck and shrimp for farms. It 's the point of harvest, rice, and hundreds of rice farmers are bent over their ponds. Shy children waving as we drive by. Uscome this natural World Heritage and a half our private boat trash timber. Quietly sail into a dream landscape that seems surreal. 3,000 islands of the sheer limestone cliffs rising from the emerald sea. It is a timeless quality of this unsettling landscape. Nat. Geo. calls it "magic stone and water." We enjoy a lunch of freshly caught fish crabs and shrimp. It 's a perfect day in the sun to escape and serenity.
The highlight of the trip was for me, our groupCyclo tour through Hanoi's Old Quarter, the last day. We turn a corner of downtown bicycle rickshaws peddled see 28 of us individually for an hour through the narrow streets lined scooter full oncoming traffic. There are some near misses at a red light, which are always ignored. We all laugh when the local watching. Terry at 6'4 "is considered enormous. Even in America, where he looked like King Tut, seated on a throne, as his 90 lbs. Peddler Driver effort, in line with our group. Come to our more lateseparate ways for an independent inquiry. After several hours, I found myself lost in a city without taxi. I had to connect to others for dinner. No choice but to rent a ride on a scooter. Dressed in a coat with his arms full of bags, mount the small place and we're out. On the highway, I wrap my arms and legs around my driver like an octopus. He laughs all the way at the Sheraton.
We fly to Singapore for a good night's sleep at The Meridian before our timeHe returned to Los Angeles via Tokyo. I reflect on a trip over to play with new insights on the history and cultures. It 'was like visiting two different planets within a vacation. The contrast of this trip is in our picture you can see from the contemporary garden paradise of Singapore for the new renaissance of traditional Vietnam. This is certainly an Asian affair will never forget.
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