I’ve had this year’s La Fête de la Coquille Saint-Jacques (Festival of Scallops) in Montmartre on my calendar for a couple of months. A French friend told me about this annual Breton event and I was instantly intrigued. David and I love scallops. We had big fun in October at the Meaux “Brie Happy” Festival celebrating the local cheese so had high hopes for a festival centered around scallops and other specialties from the Brittany region of France. A quick online search promised booths of food, cooking demonstrations, traditional Breton dancers and more. Fun!
La Fête de la Coquille Saint-Jacques in Montmartre is a two-day weekend event in January, peak scallop season. This year the fête was this past weekend, January 27-28, 2024. We arranged to meet our friend, Anthony, at pretty place des Abbesses on Saturday afternoon, the first day of the festival. This meant we’d miss an opening ceremony and group toast, but c’est la vie. After some gray days of on-and-off drizzle, Saturday dawned clear and crisp, boding well for the fete.
An incident on the Métro forced us to reroute to the Pigalle Métro stop instead of Abbesses which gave us the chance to enjoy the pretty 5-minute walk along cobbled streets to triangular place des Abbesses. We could hear the music of French bagpipes as we approached the white tents and stalls of the fête. (Bagpipes, which feature in the folk music of several French regions, are generally called “musettes” in France with the Breton version known as “binioù.”)
The entrance to the Abbesses Métro station sits in the middle of the small Abbesses plaza and it was surrounded by throngs of festival-goers. Many shared bottles of wine or cider and plates of scallops, oysters and escargots at tall tables. People navigated the crowds with bottles clutched to their chests or plastic wine and champagne glasses held high to avoid spills. The mood was boisterous and happy, but well-behaved with people of all ages. Children rode the carrousel in the center of the small plaza and begged treats from their parents. Despite overflowing trashcans, visitors neatly lined up bottles and stacked plates.
Anthony texted to say he’d gotten caught up in the same Métro slow-down we did, so David and I bought glasses of delicious local wine and went in search of scallops. Skewers of seared scallops and vats of sauteed mushrooms called to us, but the musicians had begun to form a small parade with pairs of costumed dancers falling in behind. We decided to postpone our first snack and head to the street to watch the show.
Back among the tents after the procession, I snagged us spots on a park bench where we could perch and enjoy our first snack. We’d just finished scallop skewers and mushrooms when Anthony arrived and immediately set out to buy a bottle of champagne. For the next hours, we had fun sharing food, wine and great company. We laughed and joked with a very spirited French group at a table nearby, and I discovered that the woman with whom I was sitting back-to-back on the bench and I had a lot in common. We started out with a few comments, realized we were both American and discovered a surprising number of things in common from childhood schools, to adult careers, expat lives, and mutual friends of friends. We had so much to talk about, we made plans to return for the second and last day of the festival the next afternoon. The fête seemed to inspire camaraderie all around.
After more food including garlicky escargots and a bag of rich, rum-kissed canelés, we called it a night. And, yes, we did make it back the next day to indulge less, but chat a lot more. La Fête de la Coquille Saint-Jacques in Montmartre is a smaller version of a big scallop festival that takes place in the town of Paimpol in Brittany. In 2024, La Fête de la Coquille Saint-Jacques in Paimpol will be the 20-21 of April.
Encampments outside the ramparts at Les Médiévales de Provins
UPDATE June 2024: The 39th annual Fête Médiévale de Provins was as much fun this year as last. I’m happy to report that entry fees have not changed. The weather was wildly different, though: chilly and cloudy on the first weekend in June! This year, I even got David in costume. A thick leather belt with “antique” medallions turned his Moroccan wedding attire (bought for a friend’s wedding in Marrakech in March) into medieval garb. Despite the Fête Médiévale website stating that full costume attire head-to-foot is required for an entry discount, they are in fact very liberal and freely allow tennis shoes, etc. under costumes. Costumes range from the impressively accurate period dress to fantasy wear and inexpensive Halloween-quality costumes.
My boys and I used to make the annual Fête Médiévale de Provins whenever possible, but–with my children grown–it had been some years since I’d been. When David and I decided to move back to Paris for the year, I looked up the festival, put it on my calendar and signed up for the festival email list. Then, I packed the “Guinevere” dress I bought some years back just for the occasion and crossed my fingers that we’d work the Provins fête into our schedule. Despite early summer heat and the possibility of storms (that didn’t materialize) we made it out to the picturesque walled town this past Sunday for the 38th annual festival. Les Médiévales de Provins was packed with visitors, entertainers, vendors, craftsmen and more, lots of whom sported elaborate medieval (or fantastical quasi-medieval) costumes in a perfect setting. What fun!
Street entertainers in front of Saint Quiriace church in Provins
Provins is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the town is worth a visit any time of year. Surrounded by intact medieval ramparts, the town has a tower, underground galleries, a historic church, a museum lodged behind a 12th century facade, and more. Provins regularly hosts spectacles including falconry and jousting shows from late March to early November. Half-timbered buildings and a maze of charming cobbled streets entrance visitors. In summer, lush roses spill over stone walls and small canals meander past bright flower boxes and under overhanging greenery. The whole town smells sweetly of blossoms. In winter, the streets have a different appeal and its fun to visit without the crowds. The main church Saint Quiriace was built in 1160(!). Joan of Arc and King Charles VII attended mass there in 1429. The main part of the church burned and was rebuilt in the 1600’s.
During the medieval festival, Provins truly comes alive. Tents offering all sorts of medieval-era-inspired handicrafts line the square around Saint Quiriace and continue down numerous cobbled streets to the big place du Châtel and spill out onto the grass at the base of the ramparts: jewelry, leather goods, food, clothing, ironworks and more. Street entertainers play music, dance, juggle, and parade by on stilts. Book stalls fill the church. Grills and spits, kettles and crêpe pans send enticing odors wafting into the air. There are interactive workshops for medieval trades and skills, jousting, archery, falconry and more.
Arriving at the festival just before noon, David and I bought cold craft beers at an early booth, then let ourselves be lured by the stalls, sipping as we went. We opted for a lunch of easy and quick sausage and rice “paella” cooked in huge iron pans and served by people dressed as peasants. Not wanting to waste time with lunch, we ate perched on a stone wall, but we could have opted for any number of places with tables set up outside or one of the regular restaurants that dot Provins. There were roasted pigs on spits, raclette sandwiches, sausages, meats, all kind of sweets. Teams of cooks and servers tended to dress alike with “knights Templar” barbequing in one spot and brown-robed monks at another. The theme was definitely open-fire and grill cooking, although there was something for everyone. Drinks included the usual modern offerings along with medieval treats like hypocras (spiced wine), cervoise (an ancient form of beer made with local plants) and hydromel (a mead-like drink made with honey).
Along with the vendors and street entertainers, our fellow visitors provided never-ending entertainment as we headed towards the large main square, place du Châtel. People of all ages attend the festival and some of the costumes are truly amazing in their accuracy and elaborateness… and no doubt expensive. The fête offers some of the best people-watching ever! We passed a knight Templar in full armor, sipping a drink via a straw stuck through a hole in his helmet, couples in lavish silken brocades, ragged peasants, warriors in leather and furs. Just for fun, I checked out the price of a wide, tooled leather belt: €175. Given that such belts were just a part of costumes that included everything from gorgeous headwear to curled-toed shoes, I can only imagine the investment some people make in their gear.
A small sampling of the costumes at the festival
I was looking forward to showing David the tents that I remembered dotting the grass beneath the ramparts of the city, so we crossed out of the walls via one of the town’s bridges and walked down the slope to where clumps of people in period dress clustered around tents demonstrating medieval crafts or selling food, drink and everything from hand-forged knives to leather wear. [See lead photo above.] The encampments ran around a corner of the base of the ramparts, spanning two sides of the town. Women in peasant dresses tended a small child who played in a wooden tub. Another woman demonstrated making thread. A man hurled throwing axes at a straw target. A group of peasants tended a small flock of black goats. And on it went. Random entertainment is liable to pop up anywhere. I remember when my sons were young, a sword fight broke out near a children’s archery range, quickly followed by a grappling hook “assault” on the town ramparts. My boys were entranced! This time, we didn’t see any swordplay, just “soldiers” marching past the tents. We bought an early Christmas present, then walked back uphill to enter the town again by yet another bridge.
A mobile “hospital” provides a random bit of entertainment at the Provins Medieval Festival
We found yet another busy square and a green area where archery supplies for rent drew a crowd who shot at a row of targets. Children played with farm animals in a small makeshift petting zoo. David bought cervoise from a brewmaster who explained the history of the drink and how it differed from beer. We loved the unique, sharply herbal flavor and agreed with the brewer that, even if they drank it warm in medieval times, he was right to serve it ice cold on this warm June day.
There’s a wonderful show put on at another spot at the base of the ramparts which we opted out of this time as I’d seen it several times and our time was limited. It’s definitely worth seeing, though, well-acted and in an ideal setting. The plot last times I saw it was simple: Invading “black” knights ride up to take the town and are met by town dignitaries. The sides agree to settle things by a sword fight between each side’s hero. When the black knight took a dastardly swing at the town hero’s back, my then second-grade son leaped up shouting, “Tricheur!” (“Cheater!”) I knew then his French was coming along fine. 🙂 There’s also an entertaining falconry show, medieval dance lessons, and a show entitled “between dog and wolf.” These spectacles are not included in the entry fee to the festival and tickets can be bought online in advance. As I’ve mentioned, though, there’s plenty of free entertainment, including musicians, dances, concerts, a parade and workshops where you can participate in activities ranging from pottery-making to forging metal.
Musicians near a gate through the walls of Provins
Practical Info: Provins is an easy train ride from Paris’ Gare de l’Est, about a hour and a half on Transilien train Line P. Provins is located in Zone 5 of the Paris/Ile de France transport system, so was included in our annual Navigo Passes. For those buying an individual ticket, the cost would currently be €5 each way, €2.50 for reduced-fare riders (which includes children 4-10 among other categories).
Les Médiévales de Provins takes place each year over a weekend in early June. Entrance fees this year for one-day were €12 in advance or €13 at the gates for adults and €7 for children over 12. Two-day adult passes were €18. Guests in costume (like me!) were €7 for one day and €10 for two days, but tickets for costumed visitors can only be bought on site. Children under 12 are free as are persons with disabilities (+1 accompanying person). I believe next year’s festival will be June 1 and 2, 2024. Find out more here.
Provins offers regular spectacles from late March through early November. Find more info here. The Provins Pass provides access to the 5 paying monuments of Provins: the Cesar Tower, the Tithe Barn, the Underground Galleries, the Saint-Ayoul Priory and the Museum.
Located in the Davis Mountains near Fort Davis, Texas, the McDonald Observatory is a research and education facility of the University of Texas. The observatory offers “Star Parties” to the public Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays throughout the year which are bookable online for a reasonable fee. While the observatory web site states that Star Parties often fill up months in advance, the permissible group size is large and I found 100+ spots still available several days before our Friday night reservation. Our January 17 date no doubt had something to do with the lighter crowd, but we chose the time of year deliberately to avoid crowds…and the sweltering peak-season temperatures in our ultimate destination, Big Bend National Park.
We were excited at weather forecasts predicting clear skies for the night of our Star Party, but that excitement turned to concern a couple days prior when we woke to find the forecast suddenly calling for high winds up to 45 mph. Yikes! Not what we had in mind, especially on a cold mountaintop at night. I immediately called the observatory and was able to change our reservations to Saturday night. It turned out to be a good thing that I called so quickly: Despite all those vacancies showing earlier, a sign on the door as we entered the visitor center Saturday night stated that the party was now fully booked. I talked to fellow Indian Lodge guests later who had been turned away.
With the restaurant at Indian Lodge closed, we decided to eat at the StarDate Café at the Observatory. As recommended in the email confirming our booking, we arrived an hour early since we wanted to eat before the Star Party. It’s a good thing we did, too. We snagged the last table and were able to get our dinner order in just before the line grew long and wait time jumped to 30, then 40 minutes. The café stays open for the first hour of the party, so guests arriving after us could come back to the café to eat during the party, but we were happy to eat and be done with it ahead of time. I slipped into the ladies’ room while we waited to pull on a pair of silk long underwear, an extra layer I was glad to have later as temperatures plunged outside. (I’d been worried it would be overheated in the cafe, but it was actually pretty chilly inside when we arrived.) The café opens to a large terrace with views of the observatory domes and quite a few tables that would probably be great in the summer or a mild winter day, but were out of the question for dining on a January night.
Right at 7pm, observatory staff announced the beginning of the Star Party and we were instructed to go outside to an open amphitheater for an orientation lecture.
Pre-viewing introduction at the outdoor amphitheater. Those stone benches are cold!
The initial lecture was brief after which we were invited to either go straight to the ten telescopes set up in the viewing park or remain for a more detailed lecture on constellations. We sat in the back to get ahead of the exiting mob and opted to go straight to the telescopes. We were glad we did. The speaker advised us that the domes which house the largest telescopes are particularly popular, so we headed to those first before more people arrived. We quickly made our way through all ten scopes, moving on if a line was long. There are telescopes of all sizes and shapes. We were there the night before a full moon, which reduced the visibility of the stars and constellations so more than one telescope was focused on the moon, the most powerful taking in just a portion of the moon and bringing its craters and peaks into sharp view. Another telescope that took in the entire moon was so bright that I had a dark after-image in one eye for at least ten minutes! Other telescopes were focused on the brightest stars since others were drowned out by the brilliant light of the moon. Still, it was cool to see things like the cloudy nebula in the sword of Orion and a pair of bi-colored twin stars. Overall star viewing was a little disappointing because of the extremely bright moon, but it was still fun and we had a full lunar eclipse to look forward to the next night in Big Bend National Park, so it was hard to complain. We were just finishing up at the last telescope when the lecture let out and a big crowd streamed into the viewing area and we realized we had had no idea what a long line was. I counted several lines that had quickly ballooned from 5 or so people to 22 or more.
Using one of the more unusual telescopes in the viewing park
The visitors center remains open during the Star Party so people can warm up, get refreshments, etc. A short film runs in a loop the entire time, there’s a gift shop, toilets and a child-friendly small museum.
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Practical info:
Cold is a real issue at the McDonald Observatory as temperatures at the observatory elevations (6300-6800 ft) can be much colder than below and the approximately 2-hour Star Parties take place mostly outside. Wear layers, hats and gloves, and the observatory encourages viewers to bring blankets which can be left in cars and retrieved if needed. Blankets or long coats are extra nice for sitting on the cold stone benches in the amphitheater. The Star Parties take place at the Rebecca Gale Telescope Park at the observatory and do not use the research telescopes higher up the mountain. Those telescopes are available on “special viewing nights” scheduled periodically throughout the year.
Prices for Star Parties are $12/adult; $10/military, 65+, and UT staff and students ; $$8/child 6-12; and, free for children under 6. Make reservations online for Star Parties, Twilight Programs, Day passes, Solar Viewings and special events.
The StarDate Café is located on site and serves sandwiches, quesadillas, tacos, snacks and drinks. The observatory recommends Star Party guests arrive an hour early if planning to eating there since crowds can be large.
Castle Hill, topped with the old Texas Military Institute (TMI) “castle” has been around since 1870. “Grafitti Park” below it, though, is a 2011 South By Southwest (SXSW) art exhibit that has obviously been wildly popular. Visitors are invited to bring their own spray paint and paint away. Even though David and I both went to law school in Austin, we were surprised and intrigued to stumble across the graffiti-covered park while looking for a parking spot the past Friday near favorite restaurant Wink. With the sun sinking low, lots of people clambered over the brightly painted walls.
Always curious, I had to look up this strange and popular park–otherwise I’d have had no idea about its SXSW origins. The park is officially known as HOPE Outdoor Gallery. For those few unfamiliar with the ever-growing event, SXSW is a huge annual festival that started back in the 80’s as a music/conference event and has expanded over the decades to include interactive media and film. In looking into Graffiti Park, I also learned that it’s been slated for destruction, a victim to Austin’s rampant (and city-ruining, IMHO) growth.
If Austin’s in your plans and grafitti in a funky Austin setting is your thing, head to 1008 Baylor St. in Austin before the end of June when it will be bulldozed. The good news is the park will be reopened in East Austin. Six acres of Carson Ranch have already been bought for a new Graffiti Park near Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. Plans are for 48,470 square feet of graffiti-able wall space. The new space looks to be sleek, new and still fun, but unavoidably lacking in castle and that charming old Austin weirdness.
I just had to share a quick post on this bit of Texas quirkiness. It’s got its issues, but I love my home state! David and I have been enjoying some downtime before our upcoming 3-month around-the-world extravaganza (leaving next week!). I haven’t been posting on Wanderwiles lately, but plan to get back to it on this trip. Our plans include 21+ hours of first class Korean Air flights, Singapore, Indonesia (Bali and Java for a few weeks), a month on a ship from Singapore to Italy (including Thailand, Sri Lanka, India, Oman, UAE, Jordan, a Suez Canal passage & Greece). After a Perugia farm, small-town Tuscany and Florence, we’ll wind up with a few-weeks return to our beloved Antwerp, Belgium. As always, comments, suggestions and questions are more than welcome! – Tamara
[Beer tasting, the Tour of Flanders bike race, and general busyness with life in Antwerp distracted me from posting this promptly. The Carnaval de La Louvière was the weekend before last, March 26-28 9 (Sun. – Tues.)]
One of the first things I do after basic travel plans (dates, transport, lodging) are set is check the holiday and festival/event schedule for a destination. Bank holidays are especially worth knowing since they can change opening dates and hours for things you really want and/or need to do. Festivals and events can effect practical things, too (like anticipated crowds, parking, elevated prices, etc.), but they can also be tons of fun and unique experiences not to be missed.
Although we’re currently on our fourth extended stay in Antwerp, Belgium, it’s the first time we’ve been here at this particular time of year: Voila! Potential for new things to see and do! I’ve got several things in my sights for the coming weeks, but we felt like we hit the jackpot this past weekend when we hopped a train down to La Louvière in the south of Belgium for the annual Carnaval de La Louvière “Laetare” festival. I learned about La Louvière’s Carnaval while doing a little research pre-trip. La Louvière is in an industrial area of Belgium and it along with several surrounding towns have been hosting these mid-Lent carnivals featuring local characters called “Gilles” since the 1800’s.
Somewhat like New Orleans’ Mardi Gras “crewes,” various societies form groups of Gilles who participate in various festivities and parades, finishing off several days of festivities with bonfires. The Gilles wear very distinctive traditional costumes in the Belgian national colors of red, yellow and black. The most spectacular feature of the Gille costume is an enormous headdress of ostrich plumes, in gleaming white or tipped with color at the wearer’s discretion.
Gilles at the Carnaval de La Louvière
Otherwise, the costumes are nearly identical: barrel-shaped jackets stuffed with oat straw and matching pants, both covered with felt appliques of crowns and lions; white “caps” worn with or without the ostrich-plume headdresses; wooden clogs; belled belts; lace flourishes.
Each Gille carries a basket of oranges to hand or toss to spectators. The Gilles march along in a step intended to maximize the clacking of their clogs and the jangling of their bells.
A musical band including drums, trumpets, trombones, clarinets, souzaphones and sometimes euphonia and tubas. Periodically, the band would really fire up; then the Gilles would stop, face the band and begin a sort of semi-organized group dance consisting of more stomping and sharp quarter turns. After a bit of this, the whole group would move further along the parade route before the routine would be repeated.
Firing up the Gilles dance
A young Gille with carnival-goers in horse costumes
Lots of spectators were in costume. Hats like these, decorated with dried orange slices, were on sale for those who weren’t in costume but wanted to get in the spirit of things.
The parade–short in length and long in time–ended up on the main square where the various groups of Gilles and other variously-costumed participants converged via two streets. The growing mass group began the final “rondeau” a large circle dance filling the entire square.
Heading for the rondeau; even little ones get into the act
The final “rondeau”
Afterwards, spectators and participants poured out of the square, scattering to restaurants, food stalls, beer pubs and carnival rides until things geared up again later in the evening for more dancing and drinking.
Parade refuse: orange remnants and confetti (and a close up of those clogs)
After the rondeau, we opted for a surprisingly good burger and people watching at Le Goulaf’.
The Carnaval de la Louvière goes on for three days with the final festivities topped off by bonfires. You can learn more at the web site of Amicale des Sociétes du Carnaval Louvièrois. Nearby sister towns host similar Laetare festivals.
_____________________ The direct train from Antwerp took about 1.5 hours and dropped us off just blocks from the main action. The Carnaval is free, so we just wandered our way over and arrived just as the parade was really kicking off. We joined the crowd marching along with a group of Gilles, then moved along to other groups at whim. It was easy to get right along-side the Gilles and join in the action. Everyone was friendly and in high spirits…and the oranges were particularly good!
(Although there’s almost no difference between 1st and 2nd class on local Belgian trains, I opted for 1st class out of an abundance of caution, afraid that the train might be full when we were ready to leave. This turned out not to be the case at all, so the extra <$20 was wasted…save for when the conductor made a very loud and food-smelly group move to another car. That was actually pretty welcome as we’d been dozing until that mob plopped into the seats next to us. Anyway, if you decide to go to La Louviere by train, there’s no point in springing for 1st class. If you go by car, be warned that parking looked to be hard to find and several roads are closed off for Carnaval. Book tickets on the Belgian Rail site.)
Naha, Okinawa: Naminoue Beach with Naminoue Shrine in the background to the right
We’re off the RCL Mariner of the Seas tomorrow and back on our own. I haven’t written travelogues about the cruise portion of our 2.5 month odyssey just because I don’t know that I’ve got much new or useful to offer. It’s been fun and we loved the itinerary–both for the ports and for its transportation value as part of our overall trip, but the ship’s service has been a let-down, not nearly as good as we experienced on our trans-Pacific crossing on the Celebrity Millennium. It was my first time on RCL, and I’d heard good things, so maybe this is just a function of changes as the ship has been fairly-recently based out of China. Definitely, cultural and language aspects were a challenge, but food, service, efficiency of on- and off-boarding left a lot to be desired. Oh well, hardly a hardship, just a little disappointing. Still, it’s been nice to have this 10-night break with someone else in charge of our itinerary before we begin our last month of travel through southeast Asia.
In the spirit of completeness, I hit on a few highlights below from our ports-of-call with Mariner that might be of interest to someone doing this cruise or making these stops:
First up was Naha, Okinawa. It was good to be back in Japan, but while we avoided the forecast rain, the sunny day brought some pretty serious heat and humidity. The highlight was definitely the hatagashira parade on Kokusai street, part of an annual festival and prelude to world’s largest tug-of-war set to take place the following day. Groups of costumed young men performed amazing balancing acts with decorated 10m poles called hatagashira to the chanting of crowds:
I couldn’t find much information about the Naha cruise port itself, so am happy to report that we docked at the Wakasa Berth, much closer in than I’d feared. (Apparently, it is possible for a ship to dock in the “spare cruise ship berth” on the far side of the container port that lies behind Wakasa Berth.) The small cruise terminal offers ATM machines, free wi-fi, helpful information staff, and plenty of taxis. There’s a nice little beach (see photo above) not 10 minutes’ walk from the the dock (walk to the right out of the port, cross the street, and take the path on the side of, not over, the bridge), or you can skip the beach and shrine and walk directly to the monorail (to Shuri Castle) and main shopping street, Kokusai Street, in about 20 minutes. Stopping at lovely Fukushuen Garden along the way will slow you down, but is worth the delay. Just beyond the beach, and accessible from the beach by a flight of stairs, is a pretty Buddhist Shrine. The surprise gem of our visit came when we cut through a park just to our left as we descended the main shrine stairs. We were just planning to cut back to the street leading from the port to Kokusai Dori Street. The park turned out to be a memorial park adjacent to the Tsushima-Maru Memorial Museum to the mostly-children who lost their lives when the ship on which they were being evacuated was torpedoed by an American ship. Like the Peace Museum in Hiroshima, this little museum is dedicated to providing rest to the souls of those who died, to memorializing their lives, and to displaying the consequences of war. It’s a sad, but welcoming little tribute with children’s belonging and a recreated classroom. Everything save a video with English subtitles and the transcript of messages from the American warship (targeting the destroyers and military personnel accompanying the evacuation, and apparently unaware of the children) is in Japanese…so the nice lady at the desk refused to accept our payment for tickets and allowed us in free. The video alone was worth the stop. (And the air conditioning is welcome, too.)
Naha, Okinawa, Japan: Hatagashira parade on Kokusai Dori Street
Our next port-of-call was Hong Kong. I’d long wanted to visit, and had been disappointed when a schedule change left us with only 10 hours in port, rather than the two days initially planned. Still, we made the most of our time. The new cruise port is at the old airport and, while the terminal is huge and modern, it’s an inconvenient location and the massive size just makes for a lot of walking through empty spaces. (I measured .4 miles on my Fitbit from the shuttle bus to the ship on our return, 90% of that simply walking back and forth through the maze-like terminal.) Despite my misgivings about the location, free shuttles provided by local malls turned out to be a really convenient launch to our day. We chose a shuttle that dropped off at Hollywood Plaza mall, and after snaking through a Marks & Spencer (weird), we ended up in a mall by multiple ATM’s, grabbed some cash, then descended an escalator to the Diamond Hill subway station. We bought tickets at machines (that require bills of 50HKD or less) and give change. For less than a couple of US dollars apiece, we rode all the way to Central station on Hong Kong Island (starting on the green line, then changing at Mong Kok so that we just had to step across the platform and onto the red line). From Central station, we took Exit J and followed signs to the Peak Tram, rode ding ding double-decker trams along Bank Street, then caught the Star Ferry back to Kowloon. We checked out the famous high tea at The Peninsula, but opted for a drink at the Intercontinental with its spectacular view of Victoria Harbor as evening fell and the lights came on.
Hong Kong: Beautiful Victoria Harbor
After Hong Kong, we had our first stop in Vietnam. The port at Chan May is a very industrial port, a long way from anything of interest to most travelers. The nearest tourist destinations: Danang, Hoi An and the former imperial city of Hue are all worth seeing, though. In fact, the hard part is choosing which to see since Hoi An and Hue are in opposite directions. There’s no cruise terminal. Knowing we needed to make plans (and not a fan of large cruise ship excursions), I’d signed us up for a private tour via Tommytours with people I’d met on Cruise Critic. [If you don’t know Cruise Critic and you cruise or plan to cruise, you need to get familiar with it. Join your ship’s “roll call,” sign up for the Meet & Greet on-board, read tips from your fellow cruisers, pool resources for tours. You’ll meet a lot of people who want to do nothing but cruise which may not be your thing, but they know the ropes of their chosen line and they’re good friends to have: We boarded with Diamond-Plus level friends, so were 5th and 6th on the ship, avoiding lines and getting to settle in early.] The Chan May port charged $25pp for a tour company to drive in to pick up, so we walked out of the port to meet our guide. I’d been leaning towards Hue, but David was taken with photos of Hoi An, a small group tour was available to Hoi An, so that’s what we did. Hoi An has the advantage of being a lovely city that was saved from destruction during the war. Heavily reliant on tourism, it’s still a beautiful glimpse at an older way of life and we really enjoyed our visit. Hue, site of the Tet Offensive, was destroyed and the former “forbidden city” is a reconstruction of the original. Our guide picked us up in a brand new, 16-seat van with great air conditioning and 2 fast wi-fi hotspots. Cold water and cold towels made the van a delightful refuge from the humidity and passing showers. On the way to Hoi An, we stopped at Danang Beach where some of our group bought live crabs to be cooked later for lunch. Our next stop en route was at the Marble Mountain area which actually consists of 5 holy mountains representing the 5 elements of local religion: metal, wood, fire, water and earth. We rode a free-standing elevator up to Water Mountain. A sudden downpour left only David and me with the guide to explore the pagoda, temple and cave shrines on the mountain. (We had rain gear while our companions did not. Although the guide handed out ponchos, the others were already wet and wearing shoes that couldn’t handle the sudden rushing water that cascaded down the steps and paths of the mountain. David and I wore made-for-fly-fishing Teva sandals–our faves for such travel–and just waded on until the cloudburst ended.) Hoi An turned out to be the kind of place where you just want to ramble. Our guide took us through a Buddhist Temple and classic long, narrow, two-story house with balcony overlooking the bustling street. We walked past river boats and through an ancient Japanese covered bridge before David and I ducked out for a little time on our own. Back with the group, we enjoyed at 7-course feast of Vietnamese food on an open-air veranda by the river. Back at the ship, our guide was able to drive into the port, bypass tour buses and drop us off right at the ship. This was a good thing, since a storm had rolled in. It was pouring raining and howling wind. David and I were fine in our rain gear, but a lot of people were drenched in the unsheltered line trying to get back on the boat.–The poor organization of Mariner striking again. [We used Tommy Tours for our Hoi An tour. You can find Tommy at: http://tommydaotours.com/. Ty (prounounced “Tee”) was our guide. They were very professional. The only slight negatives I’d point out are that lunch was very late in the day, 2pm, so we were hungry after our early start, and Ty’s accent sometimes left us guessing, but we’ve found that to be a very common problem in Asia. We paid $75 apiece and did tip.]
Hoi An, Vietnam
Our next port, Phuy My, Vietnam, was as industrial and remote as Chan May, also offering no cruise terminal, but at least a few vendors under tents. The place to see here is Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, the former Saigon. Knowing it was a nearly 2-hour drive, I debated whether we wanted to make the trip at all, but decided it made no sense not to. One again, we pooled with some Cruise Critic friends, walking out of the port to board another private van (booked through Tours By Locals). Another 16-seater, this van had great a/c, but only room temperature water and a non-functional wi-fi hotspot. Not as nice as the Hoi An set up, but our guide, Tam, turned out to be very interesting. The son and relative of many refugees (aunts and uncles escaping to Australia and his father imprisoned for 5 years after a failed attempt with the 6-year old Tam), his family suffered punishments in the past and job discrimination that continued. Still, he was upbeat and informative. Braced for the bustle of the big city, we were still blown away by the massive, chaotic crowds of scooters that swarmed the streets darting between trucks, buses and cars. Tam assured us traffic was actually light since it was a Saturday. Oh, good Lord, I could only imagine “rush hour!” We peered out the windows of the van, fascinated as we moved past the Saigon River from large roads to narrow, byzantine streets filled with shops offering nothing but scissors, others offered dragon costumes, medicinal herbs, and so much more. Stepping out of the van for the first time, I was hit by the smell of incense, but couldn’t tell where it was coming from. Tam let us down a narrow passage between buildings to arrive at the courtyard of a 300 year old Buddhist temple. The smell of incense definitely emanated from the building, growing to a cloud as we moved past a raging fire in a big free-standing “furnace” in the middle of a second courtyard. The temple bustled with activity, worshippers lighting 1 or 3 (never 2) sticks of incense and waving them before them before planting them before altars to bow and pray. Overhead, a myriad of spiral, cone-shaped incense burned, adding to the thick atmosphere. Ceramic statues crowded the roof of the temple, ornate and beautiful in a way completely unlike the temples we’d seen in Japan and Korea. After the temple, we visited the biggest, dirtiest market I’ve ever had the fascinating but dubious pleasure to visit. This place offered wholesale goods only and burst with hats, clothes, food, herbs, sugar and more, overflowing from an enormous covered area to sprawl into trash-strewn streets alive with pedestrians, porters with every imaginable bundle, and–of course–scooters. It was a relief to return to the sanctuary of the van for the drive to the War Remnants Museum. This museum, surrounded by captured American military vehicles, gives the (mostly-Northern) Vietnamese view of the Vietnam War. It’s uncomfortable to see, particularly the many photos of those injured by Agent Orange and the horrible birth defects suffered by multiple generations of those exposed. The famous “We hold these truths to be self-evident…” quote is displayed with jarring impact. The culpability of the North is glossed over (much like we saw in the Military Museum in Belgrade, Serbia, and unlike the more balanced approach of the Hiroshima Peace Museum), but it’s still worth seeing and acknowledging the horrible price of war. We moved from war to lunch, pushing away for a time thoughts of man’s inhumanity to man. We’d asked Tam for a local food lunch and he delivered with a noisy Vietnamese “pancake” restaurant. Crispy shrimp and pork “pancakes” cooked outside in iron skillets were served piping hot and folded over bean sprouts. We broke off pieces, rolled them in lettuce leaves and dipped in a special sauce. Delicious! Other courses included crab spring rolls and small beef rolls served with dry rice paper for rolling with various condiments and yet another sauce. We had pho and local beer and deep red watermelon, too. Messy, but fun, and lots of new things to try. We ended our day with visits to the French colonial-era Notre Dame cathedral, post office, opera house, city hall, and the classic Rex Hotel. It was a fascinating day and fun; I’m so glad we went…and I doubt I’ll need to do it again. [Tam a/k/a “Tony” can be reached at http://www.saigonmekongtours.com and sales@saigonmekongtours.com. Split 8 ways, we paid $75 apiece for all transportation, entries, and lunch and did tip afterwards. The tour lasted approximately 8 hours. Tony did a good job despite a few language/accent struggles for us, but again, we’ve found that to be the norm in Asia.]
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
So, now I’ve caught this blog up to date. We know that when we get off the ship tomorrow, we’re probably in for more travel uncertainty than in more-developed Japan and South Korea, but we’re excited…Besides, we definitely won’t be roughing it our first couple of nights in Singapore. We’ve booked the Intercontinental, courtesy of easy points via an IHG promotion and David’s IHG credit card. (The promotion ended before I started blogging or I would have definitely shared. I got over 60,000 IHG points for sending in some postcards, enough for a night at the Intercontinental. David racked up points with postcards, too, then scooped up the rest with a credit card signing bonus.) After Singapore, we’re off to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, before heading to Cambodia and beyond. Here’s hoping the adventures that lie ahead are good ones!
